Walmarthon's Billard Room

"Walmarthon," the sprawling St. Davids estate of leather magnate Charles S. Walton, was architect David Knickerbacker Boyd's crowning residential achievement.

The estate consisted of several buildings built with tan stone and tile roofs in a Spanish Mission style, . Despite the mansion's outward appearance, each room inside was given its own unique character.

The billiard room, pictured here, had a vaulted ceiling resembling a medieval interior. To further the eclectic appearance of the space, Native American rugs and pottery were used as decoration. According to the book "Great House" by John Baird (a wonderful account of Walmarthon's construction and conversion into Eastern College), the billiard room was turned into Walton Hall's prayer chapel in 1971. 

"Great House" also describes the untimely death of Charles S. Walton. On Christmas, 1916, barely three years into the family's residence of the estate, Walton died suddenly at the age of 54. When he was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, one of the fourteen honorary pallbearers was none other than David K. Boyd. It seems the relationship between architect and client extended beyond the professional into a deep friendship.

- Greg Prichard,