A 200-acre Chester County property near Philadelphia, which is associated with generations of the Rockefeller family, has been purchased for $24 million by a company that has been traced back to an address by acclaimed film director M. Night Shyamalan.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the purchase of Kirkwood Farm was made on March 14 and was sold to 944 Providence Road LLC, which is located on Campus Boulevard in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and is the same address used by Shyamalan's charitable organization, the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation Inc.
Kirkwood Farm is located in the center of Willistown, Pennsylvania, which is an 18-square-mile community of 11,000. As The Philadelphia Inquirer noted, Shyamalan grew up in suburban Philadelphia and lives with his family in Willistown on an estate called Ravenwood.
Conservationists initially feared that the hundreds of houses on the site would be developed, but were relieved upon learning who the buyer was.
"The sale is going to have a conservation-minded outcome," said Kate Etherington, executive director of the Willistown Conservation Trust. "Kirkwood Farm is not being sold to a developer. And we're thrilled."
Kim Whetzel and Ellen Hass of Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty's Chestnut Hill office, who were the agents of the buyer, said the new owners, who they declined to identify, "are thrilled to be the next stewards of Kirkwood Farm."
Advertisements by Compass real estate described the property as available "for the first time in 90 years," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which noted that the "endless views" were punctuated only by "five charming residences, two barns, a pond, a stream, and spring house."
The farm has belonged to generations of the Rockefeller family, who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. It went on the market last January and was listed for $29.9 million.
Whetzel previously told the Philadelphia Business Journal the new owner was looking for a larger footprint to fit a big family after owning a similar property.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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