Gilded Age architect Horace Trumbauer designed the Villanova manor house Ardrossan in 1911, never imagining it would serve as a movie backdrop, writes Stacia Friedman for hiddencityphila.org.

The 50-room Georgian Revival English manor house was immortalized with the huge success of “The Philadelphia Story.”

The movie was based on a 1939 Broadway play highlighting the social events at the mansion. The film starred Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart.  A 1956 musical with Grace Kelly came later.

The mansion sits on the 800-acre Ardrossan Farm, acquired in the 1870s by Col. Robert L. Montgomery  founder of the investment firm  Janney Montgomery Scott.

Montgomery’s daughter, Hope. worked the farm and later married Edgar Scott, heir to the Philadelphia Railroad fortune.

“I saw both movies, ‘Philadelphia Story’ and ‘High Society’, and I loved them,” said Joanie Mackie, granddaughter of the home’s original owners. “Hope loved to tell dirty jokes. But she also enjoyed working in the dairy and she was a tremendous equestrian.”

The farm has  been divided into smaller private lots for sale, with another 300 acres under conservation easements and 160 acres for the Radnor park system. The home and 10 acres remain.

Read more about the Ardrossan Estate at hiddencityphila.org.