Final push to save La Ronda
Monday, August 31st, 2009
By: Peter Crimmins
pcrimmins@whyy.org
Efforts to save an 80 year-old mansion in Bryn Mawr is entering the 11th hour Monday. The Lower Merion Board of Commissioners put a moratorium on a permit to tear down an 18,000 square foot Spanish Gothic house called La Ronda. Tuesday, the owner will be able to begin demolition.
Neighbors and preservationists want to save the house designed by famed South Florida architect Addison Mizner, and their last hope came in the form of a South Florida Mizner fan with deep pockets. Benjamin Wohl has offered to buy just the structure and have it moved to an adjacent lot, but he says talks with the owner's lawyer have not gone well.
Wohl: My confidence is waning. We've done everything we can do. We've submitted proposals, but there's always a time lag – two days here, three days there. We'll get back to you in a couple days. They're not treating this like they are taking this serious.
The owner of the house has reportedly begun removing doors and fixtures in preparation for demolition.