At the right are some articles of interest in Springfield Township’s history.
Holiday Houses at Paper Mill Glen
In 1955, the Holiday at Paper Mill Glen housing development introduced split level home design to Springfield Township. The development is located in Erdenheim in the area of Paper Mill Road and Cheltenham Avenue. Architect Thomas Brandow touted his design as a “house created for the happiness and completeness of family living.”
Holiday House residents Nancy McDonald and Michael Grothusen recently donated a copy of an adver- tisement for the Holiday homes to the archives that was provided by their neighbor, Jack Roback. It contains both exterior and interior drawings and descriptive language that is obviously written to entice new home buyers. For example, wouldn’t you be intrigued if you read:
“From the time you drive into the oversized garage with its oversized door until you fall asleep in one of three large, delightful bedrooms you are aware that ‘Holiday’ is contemporary design at its zenith. Over 300 square feet of carefully distributed storage space includes unusually large closets and a tremendous 11 foot storage wall in the family room.”
Other rooms in the house are also highlighted in the brochure. The foyer has mahogany walls, flagstone paved floor and expansive glass windows. The family room boasts a living area with a 37 foot panorama. The spacious living-dining room has a double window wall that looks out onto a rear terrace.
The kitchen is situated in the front of the house. Cabinets are solid maple with walnut and white accent. Apparently very desirable at the time were the pure white formica work surfaces on the base cabinets.
Bathrooms included a hall bath with tub and a master bathroom with a stall shower. There is also a powder room located off the family room.
Lots were advertised to be a minimum of 80′ x 155′ or a total of 12,500 square feet.
So next time you drive by Paper Mill Road and Cheltenham Avenue look for the Holiday houses, “an exciting new departure in split level home design…in an established, gracious community.”
NOTE: Holiday Houses are located in Erdenheim on the following streets: Fraser Road, Atwood Road, Bent Lane, Harston Road and Haws Lane. The author of this article, John Frantz, is a volunteer at the Springfield Township Historical Society archives.
For a copy of a “Holiday Houses at Paper Mill Glenn” brochure from our Archives in PDF format, click here.
Enfield
The Enfield Elementary School is located at Paper Mill and Church Road. Ever wonder why the school was named “Enfield?”
The name Enfield can be traced back to a man by the name of J.H.Dulles (Joe) Allen. The Allen family owned the farm at Paper Mill and Church Road. According to family lore the name Enfield was given to the farm by Joe’s grandfather who had come to Philadelphia from Enfield, Connecticut and before that from Enfield, England.
In the area called Five Points where Church Road, Paper Mill Road and Oreland Mill Road meet there were great deposits of iron ore and clay. Joe became interested in using the clay to make artistic pottery and tiles. In 1905, Joe started a small business which he named Enfield Pottery.
While he started making pottery, it was the tile business that would have the greatest success. The first major commission was tiles for the Pan American building in Washington, DC. Notable contracts for tiles included the Bok Carillon Tower in Florida and the Delaware River (now Benjamin Franklin) Bridge. Locally there are Enfield tiles in buildings at the Carson Valley School.
The stone house that was used as the office for Enfield Pottery was located at the corner of Paper Mill and Church Roads. Because of the postal activity created by the tile business, a post office named Enfield was opened in the same building. The building still exists in private ownership across from the elementary school.
Around the time of the great depression the pottery and tile business declined. In 1930 the government closed the post office and soon after the business was shut down.
So, when you are traveling through the Five Points intersection and see the stone building across from the Enfield Elementary School take a second to remember Joe Allen and his Enfield Pottery business.