"WOODCREST LODGE" HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.

    Built in 1914, "Woodcrest Lodge" was the home Paul Denckla Mills and his wife Ellen Drexel Paul. The work of the Architect Charles Barton Keen, "Woodcrest Lodge" was built in the Georgian Colonial style with an exterior of rough buff-colored stucco.

ENTRANCE GATES
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

"WOODCREST LODGE"
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

DETAIL OF ENTRANCE FRONT
 HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

DETAIL OF ENTRANCE FRONT
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

DETAIL OF PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

     "Woodcrest Lodge" sat atop a steep hillside. A raised terrace ran the length of the house, accessed by paired French doors from the hall, drawing, and dining rooms.

TERRACE FRONT
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

    

TERRACE FRONT
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

DETAIL OF ENTRANCE, TERRACE FRONT
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

FIRST FLOOR PLAN
 HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

THE HALL
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

THE SKYLIT MAIN HALL AND ROOM-LENGTH STAIRCASE
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

MANTEL IN HALL
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

     Delicate detailing in the Adam style could be found throughout the house in the form of decorative cornices and doorways and carved white marble fireplace mantels.

DRAWING ROOM
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

    The dining room had dark mahogany paneling, Hepplewhite furnishings, and a Waterford crystal chandelier. 

 DINING ROOM
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT 

DINING ROOM MANTEL
HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

LIBRARY
 HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

SECOND FLOOR PLAN
 HOUSE OF PAUL D. MILLS, ESQ., ST. DAVIDS, PA.
 MR. CHARLES BARTON KEEN, ARCHITECT

   
    A native of Philadelphia, Paul Denckla Mills and his wife spent much of their later life in New York, where Mills was a partner in the banking and brokerage firm of Dewing, Ruggles & Mills. In 1928 Mills sold "Woodcrest Lodge" and its surrounding 30 acres to a developer who owned the property until the 1950's. Later it was purchased by the Valley Forge Military Academy. The former "Woodcrest Lodge"  was destroyed by arson in 1973.

    The couple also owned "Windsor Plantation" on the Black River in the Georgetown, South Carolina area.

    Follow THIS LINK to see an aerial from 1948 showing "Woodcrest Lodge" and the surrounding area. wikimapia site where estate stood. Outbuildings still survive. BING.


   Built on a section of the estate of James W. Paul's "Woodcrest", father of  Ellen Drexel Mills.

1907 Portrait of Paul Denckla Mills(1877-1954)
Adolphe Borie

Charles Barton Keen, Architect