Bensalem Council approved preliminary land developmen for Pen Ryn Mansion Estates, a venue located at 1601 State Rd that’s used mostly for wedding events.
The decision approval came at Monday night’s Council meeting.
Mike McGuiness, attorney with Begley, Carlin & Mandio representing the developer, explained to council that Pen Ryn is looking to add three lodging structures for the already existing wedding venues on the site.
The property is 9 1/2 acres officials said and the section of the property where the project would take place is heavily wooded and buffered, McGuinness said.
“It’s being proposed as an amenity to people who are already coming to the property for weddings and events.” McGuiness stated. Two of the structures will have 12 rooms and be added on to already existing structures to the west of the property, while one structure will have 13 and be built separate near the rivers edge venue.
Pen Ryn Sketch Plans presented at Monday night’s Council meeting Credit: YouTube Screenshot
“We’re excited, this is a property that everyone in the township knows, it’s maintained well, and we think this is the next step to add a really nice amenity to individuals who frequent this site. It will be done without any additional traffic or significant site impacts. ”
William Hass, a Pen Ryn associate explained the reasoning behind the land development .
“Since the beginning, we’ve been asked by our host if they can stay on site, and there’s a lot of pluses with that. Everything on that site is geared towards the events.
Councilman Edward Kisselback inquired to the estate about parking space, or a potential lack thereof.
Hass explained that parking has never been an issue for the site as it currently is.
“We have fields off the rivers edge, we never had to use them. The only time that we would have parking problems would have been maybe when we’ve had a chambers of congress event. With the weddings people come 2-4 people in a car.”
Council member Joseph Knowles said that he liked the idea of people being able to have a place to stay at the venue, as it’s convenient for out of town guest who would have booked hotel rooms elsewhere.
Hass made it clear that the hotel is only for guests who have booked events at the Estate, and it’s not a regular hotel that anyone can just check in and stay for the night.
The Pen Ryn Estate has a long history in Bensalem dating back to 1744. It first started as a two story home built by the Brickley’s, who migrated from Britain during the Revolutionary War.
After the British lost the war, the Brickley’s sold the home to the Drexel family, who would then marry into the Wharton family. Both these families would be responsible for starting their own respective colleges.
In 1948, the property would become the Pen Ryn Elementary school. By 1988, the school had moved, and the building remained abandon until 1993 when it was purchased by it’s current owners, who went out of their way to restore the property to how it once was.
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