A 20th century castle on the outskirts of Ambler could be yours — but you'll have to bid for it.
The Lindenwold Castle at 500 Mattison Avenue is up for auction, which closes Dec. 19. The minimum bid is $1.5 million.
For that money, you could get more than 24,000 square feet on just over an acre of land in Montgomery County partly surrounded by the Mattison Estate, a retirement community.
The three-story castle features original building fixtures, according to the realtor posting, and is zoned as a Mixed Use Residential Historical District, which means the building could be a single-family home, multiple residences, or an office, said Adam Gillespie of Avison Young, the real estate company helping to facilitate the sale. The new owner will be required to maintain the historic building's exterior and some of its interior features.
"You would be amazed at the intricacies of the woodwork and the stained glass," Gillespie said. "There is so much opulence in this building."
The mansion was remodeled around 1912 to resemble Windsor Castle, according to the auction listing.
The current owner, Leonard Poncia of Aquinas Realty Partners, bought the property in 2019 and originally hoped to use it as offices, just as its former owners, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, did, along with an orphanage, until they sold it in the 1980s.
Poncia later hoped during the pandemic that it might become a single-family home. But other, bigger projects have since taken precedence, which lead Poncia to list the building, Gillespie said, adding that Poncia has spent about $3 million to renovate the property, including on fire safety and electrical work.
This is not the first religiously connected site for Poncia, who previously purchased the National Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel in Bensalem hopes of developing it for mixed residential use. That property has been boarded up as development plans have stalled.
Poncia developed the entire Mattison Estates site, Gillespie said, selling off a residential component for townhouses as well as the senior retirement community.
The site is named for Richard Mattison, who founded Keasbey & Mattison, an asbestos manufacturer that put Ambler on the map, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The asbestos superfund site in Ambler continues to be monitored to this day.
Paramount Realty USA is handling the auction.
Avison Young is offering tours of the property all day on Dec. 11, Gillespie said. "Bring your contractors and be ready to bid on the 19th."
Jess Rohan can be reached at [email protected].