Glen Foerd at Torresdale, Historic riverfront estate in Torresdale, Philadelphia, US.
Glen Foerd at Torresdale is a riverfront estate along the Delaware River in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia. The main building is a Victorian mansion with later classical additions, set within formal gardens that face the water.
Charles Macalester acquired the land around 1850 and used it as a summer retreat. Robert Foerderer, a leather goods manufacturer, bought the property in 1893 and commissioned the expansions that gave the estate its current form.
The mansion holds extensive collections of documents and records from 1870 to 2010 that tell the story of the family who lived here and Philadelphia's social history. These archives allow visitors to follow how a wealthy household evolved over generations.
The estate sits on Grant Avenue in the far northeast of Philadelphia, and it is worth checking ahead to confirm which days the grounds and house are open. Guided tours offer more access to the interior than a simple walk around the gardens.
The estate has a boathouse directly on the Delaware River that still stands today, a reminder that guests once arrived by water rather than by road. Looking back at the mansion from the riverbank gives a sense of how the property was meant to be approached.
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