Not long after the Stotesburys were married in 1912, Eva Stotesbury began to pursue her dream of building a great country house. The Stotesburys had engaged art dealer Joseph Duveen and interior decorator Sir Charles Allom to furnish and decorate their townhouse at 1925 Walnut Street in Philadelphia, and Eva relied on their expertise to refine her ideas for her dream house. She patiently consulted sources on the architecture and style of great English country houses, such as Charles Latham's three volume set on "In English Homes," and John Leyland's "Gardens Old & New." When they were ready, the Stotesburys engaged architect Horace Trumbauer to begin plans for Whitemarsh Hall. Duveen and Allom were not brought into the project until after E.T. Stotesbury had purchased most of the land in Wyndmoor, and after the scope and style of the project had been established with Trumbauer.

Whitemarsh Hall was influenced by many aspects of some of the more notable English country houses. Although the house has been described as "English Palladian," it also incorporated Georgian and Renaissance styles. It was as if Eva Stotesbury identified certain features that she admired, and Trumbauer successfully incorporated them into the overall theme. In later describing the style of Whitemarsh Hall, Eva referred to two great English country houses as having a primary influence. These were Prior Park College in Bath, and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

Chatsworth

Whitemarsh Hall

Whitemarsh Hall

In addition, some of the rooms at Whitemarsh Hall were designed to include features taken from classic English architecture. Two of these rooms are profiled here:

The Book Room (the Small Library)

The West Loggia