Love this place so much I'm a member. The oldest fernery in the US is small but charming. The trees…read moreare impressive. I love the dawn redwoods, which remind me of my time in Northern California. There are interesting sculptures to see. The formal gardens are lovely, with lots of gorgeous roses. I've not yet taken the railroad. Beyond the carefully curated gardens and arboretum are the wetlands along the Wissahickon. You can spend a lovely day in nature exploring the trails.

We live a short drive from this regional gem. The grounds are thoughtfully curated, and there are…read morespaces for the whole family. It's not unusual to see artists, classes, and families at Morris. Despite this, it never feels crowded. We love Morris so much that we joined their membership program a few years back; it's a membership that we keep active. The community programming is a nice add, and we've even picnicked here once. We appreciate the nods to the community (e.g., the scaled down Chestnut Hill West SEPTA stop), and the areas of Morris that speak to all members of the family. We'll definitely be back.

First of course some history:…read more Hope Lodge was completed in 1748 by Samuel Morris who was a wealthy Quaker businessman. As a young man Sammy worked with his father at a mill complex in Ambler. Later he bought and sold commercial property in Philadelphia along with owning ships, a quarry, kilns, a tannery and Mather Mill which is only a block away from the mansion. As if that wasn't enough, Morris also had side hustles as being the justice of the peace for Whitemarsh, Philadelphia county commissioner and an assessor for Philadelphia county. While Morris supposedly had never been to England, he adopted the most current architectural style of the day in both England and America, Georgian, named for King George I who was reigning at the time. The style was popular in Great Britain for its balance and symmetry. Fun rumor #1 is that Edmund Woolley, architect of Independence Hall, offered some advice on the mansion's design in exchange for some quarried lime and farm goods. Now here's where the historic part comes in. In 1777 the Whitemarsh Encampment, a six-week period of the American Revolution when the Continental Army camped in the surrounding fields after the Battle of Germantown and before encamping at Valley Forge occurs. During that time the house was used as the HQ of George Washington's Surgeon General, John Cochran. Fun rumor #2 is that while Washington never slept at the mansion or on the property, supposedly GW rode his horse through the first floor hallway of Hope Lodge during a visit. There is no evidence to support this claim, even though the hallway is wide enough, but no doubt that Washington would have visited Dr. Cochran frequently during the encampment. Eventually everything gets sold to English banker Henry Hope. Hope, to give you a sense of his importance, has enough juice at the time that Adam Smith in the 4th Edition of his still read today economics masterwork The Wealth of Nations, dedicated the book to Hope. Also if the Hope family name sounds familiar it's because among other things the Hope Diamond was named after them due to their ownership of the diamond. Never intending to live in Whitemarsh, Hope purchased the property as a wedding gift for his ward, James Watmough. It was the Watmoughs who named the site Hope Lodge, in honor of their benefactor. Prior to that and during Samuel Morris's lifetime the property is known as Whitemarsh Farms and Whitemarsh Estate. The property is then sold to a family who for almost the next century uses it primarily for farming. Lack of funds prevented upgrades to more modern things gas lighting and indoor plumbing in the late 19th century which meant the mansion's 18th century integrity is retained. From the Internet: "In 1921 the property is sold to Keasbey and Mattison, a development company whose plan was to demolish the structure and extend a nearby limestone quarry. To save it from destruction, William and Alice Degn bought the property in 1922. Early historic preservationists, they carefully restored the house and added their collection of 18th and early 19th century furnishings. They did not install a central heating system in the main house because of its destructive piping; rather they added a wing onto the existing summer kitchen for a winter residence. Both of the Degns loved flowers, and they created a beautiful rose garden on the south side of the house. After Mr. Degn's death in 1940, and Mrs. Degn's death in 1953, ownership of the house was transferred to the Hope Lodge Foundation, and in 1957, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, Hope Lodge is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the Friends of Hope Lodge, a non-profit support group formed to assist with operations at the site." So what you have today is a house that does not have the historical gravitas of a place where a Founding Father lived, worked or slept but due to the love it has received particularly from the Degn's the actual bones of the house are in amazing condition with the feature being the incomparable woodwork. If you go: Hope Lodge is not unlike a lot of other PHMC sites in that you really have to want to see it. Tours are only done one day a month, usually the 3rd Sunday, at 1pm and 2:30pm. Some months offer special events like a symphony concert, beer tasting, movie night under the stars and the biggie which is the annual re-enactment of the 1777 Whitemarsh Encampment which takes place in November. Tour admission is $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, $4.00 for youth age 6-17, children under 5 are free and Friends of Historic Hope Lodge members are free. Cash or check only. Active military personnel and their families are also free. Parking is via two smallish lots one on the side of the property near the gardens and the other in the rear of the property. The property is on South Bethlehem Pike which is very easy to get to from both the PA Turnpike and Route 309.

Exquisite site and gardens. Excellent example of 18th century architecture and furnishings. Great…read morehistorical gem in our own backyard.

Peaceful, pretty, lush with benches and trails. Power walkers, strollers (both kinds: baby…read morecarriages and leisurely walkers), kids exploring the creek and only steps from the post office and Merion train station. Lucky me! A 4-minute walk from our condo.

A peaceful, well maintained local park/garden with some spectacular trees. Check out the "umbrella…read moretree" with its oversized leaves. There was a Franklinia tree in bloom when I visited. The extra treat is its position along a creek that is shaded by shrubs and trees. Park benches along the creek for a little break. I look forward to returning with my young grandsons who would love to explore the creek!

Binky Lee Preserve in Chester Springs is a very picturesque and peaceful preserve. Like all Natural…read moreLands properties, it is very clean (free of litter), and trails are well maintained. The parking lot is paved, but is a little cramped, and can fill up easily because it's not very big, and this seems to be a more popular preserve. Other visitors here were friendly and many had dogs, but everyone respected leash rules and picked up after their dog. There are a number of inclines, so while the meadow is normally easy walking, the areas where it gets hilly are too steep to recommend this for disabled people (other NL preserves are good for that). This was, however, an easy enough walk for kids and dogs. You are perched up on a hillside, when you reach the apex of the meadow, and the views are very cool of nearby "mountains" of Chester Springs. down the hill, there is a wooded area with some bridges and an old stone springhouse, etc. as bucolic scenery. It is a very picturesque preserve, great for photos.

This place is a hidden little gem, great for walking your dog and trying out a new place to enjoy…read more It doesn't have a proper path, it feels a bit more like a hike than a trail walk, but certainly worth the time to just get to know a bit more of our beautiful Chester county landscape!

Visited on school trip. When we arrived, staff were waiting outside and grabbed our attention by…read moretheir traditional 1700's Quaker attire. Our tour consisted of the Blacksmith, Pond Life, Mill Tour, Miller's House and Hearth Cooking. I must admit I think the adults were a bit more intrigued by the program than the children. I specifically loved the Blacksmith demonstration. The gentleman showed us how tedious it was just to make a simple spoon and the amount of work that went into making items out of iron during this time frame. He explained that during this time 8-9 year olds would have been working on making nails and how important the Blacksmith was to the community. I would love to visit again and participate in learning more about the process. I not a bug lover so the Pond while the children thought it was cool to play in, I would pass. The Mill tour.. amazing the process of milling flour and the Miller's house displayed how the home would have been set up during the time period, including the brick oven. I also enjoyed the Hearth cooking.. the children learned how to make and "cook" cookies outside in a Hearth; the cookies actually tasted pretty good. Overall, I really enjoyed my time on the grounds. I look forward to returning and participating in another programs.

this place is HUGE! there are so many different trails to walk, beautiful waterfalls and a lovely…read morepicnic area. there are signs throughout showing the map of all the trails. I only wish there were signs telling you which trail you're starting because I struggle to read the map.

WHAT A BLAST. We came here for my birthday kind of ironically because online we saw reels saying it…read morewas the "weirdest museum ever," and thought it would be kind of funny/maybe even creepy. Little did we know it was actually FASCINATING; it was so fun to admire every last piece in the museum. The tram guide was great, the pre-recorded audio is helpful and interesting, and the collection is so varied and extensive that you can't help but love it. The pipe organs - fabulous. The walkable "toy box" collection was great after the tram. Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone - it was soooo fun.

What a fun thing to do! We didn't know what to expect and want to say we all really enjoyed the…read moreexperience! Admission was reasonable and enjoyed the self-guided part while waiting for the next tram departure time. There was everything you could imagine - except one thing! A TELEX MACHINE (which I used to operate). When I asked the staff if they had one none of them even knew what I was talking about (early 20's)! We took the tram tour and really enjoyed it. The tram moved at a nice pace so you could really take in everything. So much to see - everywhere. It was a really fun way to spend a few hours on a rainy day! But I urge you to visit rain or shine!

The gardens and paths behind the Art Museum are beautiful. The flowers and plants change with the…read moreseasons of course. It's a nice place to walk or sit. It's also a great place to let the littles run around. A small cafe has drinks, sandwiches and other food. There is a bike rental stand. Restrooms and a water fountain are at Lloyd Hall at the end of the parking lot. Boathouse Row is also a nice walk.

Went for yoga in the park hosted by Philly Parks and it was fantastic. The area is quiet clean and…read morepeaceful.

Longwood Gardens in the summer is absolutely gorgeous! We spent about 3.5 hours there on Saturday…read morebut easily could've roamed for longer--we saw the main fountain garden, east and west conservatories, children's garden, waterlily court, chimes tower, eye of water, canopy cathedral tree house, and Italian water garden. The fountain shows are super impressive--I would highly recommend timing your visit to see at least one if you're there on a weekend (we saw both the 11:15am and 1:15pm, they each last about 10 min. You can view from the main conservatory overlook area benches or down by the biggest fountains by the pumphouse. They play music and it's just incredible. There also are tons of water falls everywhere! Very nice and well maintained, not buggy. Everything is beautiful. There were tons more to see but we grew hungry! I would just caution to eat beforehand as the food options here are overpriced (think $7 for a bowl of soup)

We had been here decades ago so we knew we needed to revisit while in the area since this is one of…read morethe best gardens in the country. Not a cheap place at over $30 for most admissions even with some minor discounts. Since we didn't know our exact schedule we took a chance and did not buy a timed admission in advance even though they recommend it. It was going to be another super steamy day for late May so we arrived a bit after they opened at 10am. Everyone else had the same idea. Luckily we were able to buy a ticket on the spot without waiting on line since we used one of the kiosks. There were tons of grade school groups that were running through most exhibits - it appeared their favorite was getting wet from the fountain show's spray! This place is huge with lots of walking but there is enough shade to keep out of the 90 + degree heat. All of the volunteers were super friendly and helpful. Eager to answer all questions and give directions. We covered a lot of ground in three hours and saw all the highlights including two of the fountain shows, the conservatory, the bonsai exhibit, the Italian water garden and the house. Don't miss the behind the scenes exhibit on the pipe organ - fascinating! Everything was beautiful. What an impressive place. No wonder it's so popular.