The Red Rose Girls: Cogslea

The Garden Fountain at Cogslea

"In August of 1905, after several months of secret negotiations, H. S. Kerbaugh, purchased the Red Rose Inn and two hundred surrounding acres for $200,000. In January, Violet Oakley, Jessie Smith, Elizabeth Green and Henrietta Cozens were served with an eviction notice stating: 'Each of you are hereby notified and required to quit and deliver up to me possession of the said premises, which you now hold as tenant under me, at the expiration of the said lease, namely, the first day of May, A.D. 1906, as I desire to have such possession.'

The eviction notice caught the Red Rose Girls completely off guard. Later, friends would tell them that so many people advised Henry Kerbaugh not to disturb his famous tenants, that he lost his temper and shouted, 'I don't want any beggarly artists on the place!' His decision to turn them out put the household in turmoil. What were they to do?

Help came from one of Philadelphia's wealthiest citizens, Dr. George Woodward. After much discussion, Woodward agreed to renovate a partially burnt-out house located on his property near the picturesque Cresheim Creek. The old house had thick stone walls and an adjacent barn and carriage house that could serve as studio space. He hired the noted architect Frank Miles Day to make the necessary improvements. George Walter Dawson was engaged to lay out the gardens, which the artists stipulated should, as closely as possible, duplicate the grounds at their beloved Red Rose Inn - complete with the fountain, distinctive pergola, clematis and red roses. The extraordinary generosity of the Woodward family mitigated the artists' distress over leaving their home, and the four companions were able to relocated with minimal interruption of their busy schedules. 

They named their new home Cogslea, keeping the acronym they had devised for their eccentric family and adding 'lea' for the sloping land of the new estate. They were forever grateful for the generosity of the Woodward family and affectionately called their benefactor St. George. The name stuck, and although the original address for Cogslea was Allen's Lane, the present address of the home (now a national historic site) is St. George's Road."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Red Rose Girls: Art and Love on Philadelphia's Main Line" by Alice A. Carter.)