The formal gardens at Edward T. Stotesbury’s “Whitemarsh Hall” were the design of the famous French landscape architect Jacques Greber. It was Greber’s masterpiece that gave “Whitemarsh Hall” its nickname of “The Versailles of America”. Mr. Greber came to the United States in 1910 to design gardens for Clarence H. Mackay's “Harbor Hill” estate on Long Island and P.A.B. Widener's “Lynnewood Hall”. Enlisted by architect Horace Trumbauer to create the gardens for “Whitemarsh Hall”, Greber included statuary carved by his father, sculptor Henri-Léon Greber. These gardens were an excellent example of the French classical design, and were intended to be an extension to the mansion. They were inclined slightly downward, so they could be seen when entering the main gates on Willow Grove Avenue a mile away. White gravel was used on the footpaths as well as on the winding two-mile- long driveway leading up to the mansion. Greber designed the rest of the property in an English-style park atmosphere. Today the Stotesbury townhouse complex uses the former garden area as common ground for the homeowners. Some remnants remain of the past glory, including the garden retaining walls and steps, the recessed Grotto, an open belvedere, and the front columns that held up the mansion’s portico entranceway.

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