The Waynewood Apartment House

One of the best known and prolific architects to have called Radnor home was David Knickerbacker Boyd. Over the next few weeks "From the Archives" will look at some of Boyd's work in the township.

In 1906, Wayne was short on hotels. Miss Harriet C. Armitage operated the Louella Hotel (today's Louella mansion, now being converted into condominiums) as a private school during the winter, though it remained a hotel in the summer. Six years previously, Wayne's enormous Bellevue Hotel burned to the ground.

What Wayne had even less of were apartments. Besides those above businesses in the downtown section, Wayne was primarily a town of freestanding homes. Charles H. Wood aimed to alleviate both of those deficiencies with the Waynewood Apartment House, for which he hired architect D.K. Boyd.

It might be surprising to imagine it today, but the Waynewood, now known as the , was built on the western edge of the Louella property. It was equipped with very modern conveniences, including an elevator, long distance telephone and a vapor heat system that could be controlled in each room.

This drawing, which appeared in the Suburban & Wayne Times on February 22, 1907, accompanied an article describing the progress of the building's construction, which was being managed by Jonathan D. Lengel. Next week we will see a rare view of the Waynewood under construction.

- Greg Prichard,