Flames Devour Villanova Mansion

Fire crews from around the area spent Wednesday afternoon fighting a house fire at 200 South Ithan Avenue in Villanova, Radnor Township.

The blaze, which apparently started on the third floor, caused significant damage to the building, a mansion named Bloomfield.

The couple renting the home, their maid and two dogs were able to escape the home safely, according to a neighbor.

The neighbor told Radnor Patch that she was talking with the gardener, who said he was blowing leaves from the driveway between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. when he saw flames coming from a third floor window.

There was a fire in the same home in 1978. The third floor was destroyed and later rebuilt.

The home is part of the what used to be the George H. McFadden estate, which used to encompass most of the block. It was designed by architect Horace Trumbauer, according to the Radnor Historical Society.

The home was last sold in 2001 to Jerald S. Batoff, of Bala Cynwyd, for $2,278,500, according to Delaware County records. Zillow lists the home as being for offered for sale at least twice in 2011 with an asking price of $6.9 million and then $5.9 million, but the house was taken off the market in October.

Zillow lists the home as having 19 bedrooms and 10-13 bathrooms with a square footage of 22,461.

Fire companies from Penn Wynne, Narberth, Newtown Square, Merion, King of Prussia and Radnor were on the scene.

South Ithan Avenue was closed in the area of the fire.

Click to see NBC 10's chopper video of the fire.