Case Studies
29
“[Our buyers are] downsizing… and they want
to be in… town centers. They want to walk to
things, be near the train.”
– Scott Brehman
Main Line ReBUILD
The Story
Located in a residential neighborhood,
the Gothic Revival United Methodist
Church of Narberth was built in 1929
by Philadelphia architect Alexander
Mackie Adams. It replaced the original
church across the street, which is now
a private home. The neighboring stone
and wood-shingle parsonage, Barrie
House, was built prior to the church
in 1881. In 2013, the congregation
merged with St. Luke Methodist Church
in Bryn Mawr due to a decrease in
membership and difficulty maintaining
the large building. For more than five
years prior to the church building’s
closure, the congregation shared its
space with community groups such as
the Narberth Community Food Bank and
New Horizons Senior Center, both of
which relocated to the former Narberth
School, now a borough-owned building.
Five of six bidders proposed demolishing
the buildings and replacing them with
townhomes, but Main Line ReBUILD’s
proposal aligned with the community’s
vision for the property to preserve the
buildings. The adaptive reuse project,
Narberth Place, consists of Elm Hall (the
former church), Barrie House (the former
parsonage), and Vauclain Manor (a newly
constructed 3-unit townhouse building).
Previously the parsonage, Barrie House required extensive renovations.
Newly constructed Vauclain Manor was designed to fit into
the neighborhood.
