Cottage House (Private Residence-Please do not disturb)

Glen Foerd’s first owner, Charles Macalester, originally constructed the cottage as a "gas house" to fuel his own house as well as the surrounding residences in the Torresdale community. Torresdale eventually became an attractive enclave. Even a mayor, Edwin Fitler--after whom Philadelphia’s Fitler Square and Torresdale’s Fitler Street are named--joined the community.

Gas for the buildings was manufactured every Monday and stored here until used. By 1903 with the introduction of electricity, gas was no longer needed for illuminating the households of the elite. In 1915, the structure was redesigned as a Swiss chalet to be used as a residence or guest house. Please be respectful of the current cottage house residents while touring the grounds.

Across the road, you’ll see Glen Foerd’s garden, where our community rents space for growing their own vegetables. There’s an apiary, too, where bees live and produce honey. These bees have a symbiotic relationship with the flowering plants on the grounds, where both species benefit. As pollinators, the bees help the plants reproduce by spreading pollen from flower to flower, while the flowers provide food for the bee colony.