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Investor identified as La Ronda's mystery owner

The mystery owner of La Ronda, the castle-like mansion in Bryn Mawr slated for demolition, was identified yesterday as investor Joseph D. Kestenbaum.

Joseph D. Kestenbaum and his wife, Sharon Kestenbaum, in 2007. The sale and plans to raze La Ronda were announced in March. (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)
Joseph D. Kestenbaum and his wife, Sharon Kestenbaum, in 2007. The sale and plans to raze La Ronda were announced in March. (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)Read more

The mystery owner of La Ronda, the castle-like mansion in Bryn Mawr slated for demolition, was identified yesterday as investor Joseph D. Kestenbaum.

Hidden behind a corporation and protected by a confidentiality agreement with the seller, the current owner's identity has been a source of speculation and rumor since the villa was sold in March for $6 million and plans to raze it were made public.

Amid a last-ditch effort to save it, or at least some of its contents, the property's former owner came forward yesterday and identified Kestenbaum as the buyer.

Arthur J. Kania, 78, who lived on the estate more than 25 years until its sale, spoke about the transaction for the first time and said that the house had been "pillaged" since the sale.

Kania said that he felt free to identify Kestenbaum because Kestenbaum had told a South Florida developer making a recent bid for the building that Kania was the seller, thus violating the confidentiality agreement.

When the property was sold, the new owners were identified as corporate partnerships - each with the name 1030 Mount Pleasant Road, La Ronda's address.

Efforts yesterday to reach Kestenbaum at his office in Plymouth Meeting and house in Penn Valley were unsuccessful. He is president and chief executive officer of ELB Capital Management and Marsh Hawk Capitol Management, which control several hundred million dollars in investment capital.

When told that Kania had identified Kestenbaum as the owner, the partnerships' attorney, Joseph C. Kuhls, said he would neither "confirm nor deny" that Kestenbaum was the purchaser.

In an interview two weeks ago, Kuhls said: "I am not aware of Mr. Kestenbaum's involvement in any of these corporations. I don't know Mr. Kestenbaum."

The 80-year-old villa has been a source of anxiety for preservationists who fear that it could be razed. A township demolition permit becomes effective Oct. 1. The house is the last commission of famed architect Addison Mizner, and is more evocative of the houses he designed in Florida than its location on the Main Line.

The last hope for saving the building, with wall coverings made from real coral, complete with sea-life fossils, apparently rests with Florida real estate developer Benjamin Wohl, who said he would be willing to buy the house from Kestenbaum and relocate it on property several hundred yards away. That would spare the structure and allow Kestenbaum to proceed with his plans to build a 10,000-square-foot home at the site.

Sale talks, however, have not been fruitful. "It's a protracted, difficult negotiation," said Wohl, who had attended a preservationists' rally last month at the La Ronda driveway. Kuhls said Wohl had been provided with a "terms sheet" for the sale.

If the building can't be saved, Kania said, he hopes to salvage some of the items, including precious stained-glass windows that were a Mizner signature. Time is running out, however.

Under the sale agreement, filed with the township, he has 30 days from the date of the demolition permit for any salvage actions. Since Lower Merion issued the permit Sept. 1, that leaves 16 days. Kania said he had held off claiming any items because he hoped Wohl would be able to execute a purchase.

However, he said that since he has so little time, he may commission contractors as soon as today to commence a salvage operation.

Kuhls questioned whether Kania had any such right. "We don't believe that Mr. Kania has any claim to the materials," Kuhls said.

Kania said that when he visited the mansion last month, he was appalled at what he saw - actually, what he didn't see.

"The shock to us was that it was pillaged, devastated," he said.

Arthur Kania's son, Steve, 41, recalled during a visit to the house yesterday that when the family first moved in, he and his brother had set up makeshift posts so they could play full-court Nerf ball in the 50-foot-long "great hall."

As he spoke at one end of the hall, a wrought-iron railing could be seen missing from a staircase, and an ornate stone archway was ripped out of the 25-foot-high passageway to the dining room.

Steve Kania said the missing items included 45 hand-carved wooden doors and fixtures from the house's 12 bathrooms.

"We're insisting on the return of the items that already have been taken," said Arthur Kania. "Keep it and put [it] in one place and make sure it doesn't wind up in a dollar store.

"We treasured this stuff in here," he said. "Our heart, our intention was preservation. It has nothing to do with money."

He said he planned to give away some of the salvaged items to institutions such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Historical Society of Palm Beach, Fla.

He said he and his wife had become infatuated with Mizner's work when they were spending winters in Boca Raton, Fla.

They were familiar with La Ronda because it once was owned by Villanova University. Kania, an attorney, was part of Villanova Law School's first graduating class and later became chairman of the board of trustees.

The estate was built by leather baron Percival Foerderer in 1929, with 51 rooms, a steeplechase, and a garden.

The Kanias, who have seven children and 17 grandchildren, had planned to live there for two years, Arthur Kania said. They ended up staying more than 25.

He said that ultimately, the 18,000-square-foot house with a front door big enough for a horse and carriage became too much for a couple in their 70s, and they moved to a more-manageable place in Rosemont.

He said he would like to see the building saved.

"Our heart, our intention was preservation," he said. "It has nothing to do with money."