This Gilded Age estate and wedding venue in Montco is adding a boutique event space and distillery

The Elkins Estate, which already hosts weddings in its main mansion, is set to add a boutique event space and a distillery in the new year.

In the fall, the Tudor-style Chelten House will open for smaller gatherings of 100 or fewer people, and include 16 guest rooms, said Jeanne Cretella, cofounder of By Landmark hospitality.

Elsewhere on the 42 acres, a distillery called Morgan Stillhouse is set to open by the summer in the grounds’ former stables, Cretella said. Managed by spirits writer and researcher Carlo DeVito, the distillery plans to produce vodka, gin, and whiskey, which customers can try at an on-site tasting room. It will debut with its rollout of Stork Club Vodka, reviving the brand associated with the storied New York nightclub.

“We’re really looking forward to our next phase,” Cretella said, noting that the Chelten House “will be the perfect setting for those much more intimate events, whether it’s seminars or retreats or business meetings.”

In 2019, Jeanne and Frank Cretella’s company, By Landmark, bought the sprawling Cheltenham property for $6.5 million from the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de Ricci, who had used the grounds for religious retreats. At the time, the couple said they intended to spend $20 million to restore six historic buildings on the site.

By Landmark’s final investment numbers were not available Friday, according to a spokesperson, as renovations are ongoing.

The Cretellas initially envisioned a luxury boutique hotel with more than 100 guest rooms, a spa, a restaurant, and other amenities. At one point, they even considered installing a heliport on the site.

Then the pandemic happened, Jeanne Cretella recalled Friday.

Despite the challenges of that time, “we are so proud that we were able to open up Elstowe Manor,” the estate’s 70,000-square-foot centerpiece that required extensive plumbing, electrical, heating, and ADA upgrades to be brought up to code, Cretella said.

“We made the decision after COVID that it would be best … to have the rooms only open to event guests,” she said.

With 50-foot frescoed ceilings and a grand ballroom with a glass skylight, Elstowe Manor can host 300-person events and includes 69 guest rooms.

More than 100 weddings and events have been held at the manor in the past two years (The venue also hosted weddings in the early 2010s when it was briefly owned by a nonprofit that went bankrupt).

At the estate these days, couples and their guests feel like they “are somewhere really special, and have the ability to really enjoy utilizing the estate for the whole weekend,” Cretella said.

With its more intimate setting, the Chelten House is meant to complement the Elstowe Manor, Cretella said. The home features Italian Renaissance Revival designs, with terracotta roof tiles, large arched windows, wood-paneled rooms, and marble fireplaces.

While each part of the property is set apart and has its own entrance, Cretella said she foresees the Chelten House being busy during the week (when most corporate retreats occur) and the Elstowe Manor bustling with wedding festivities on the weekends.

Some larger weddings may use both the manor and the Chelten House for their events and accommodations, she said.

Cretella said they don’t foresee adding more amenities to the property in the near future.

“The original plan to have a restaurant was definitely in conjunction with having a hotel that was open to the public,” not just event guests, she said. So “opening up a restaurant is not on the horizon.”

But, she added, “we won’t say never.”

For now, Cretella said they are focused on their events, including opportunities to welcome the public onto the historic site.

Earlier this year, the estate opened a podcast recording studio and demonstration kitchen, which Cretella said they hope local school students can use. They are also looking to bring professional actors and creators into the space.

In November, By Landmark opened the estate up for paid public tours. A tour in early January, which costs $30 a person, is already sold out.

Cretella said the estate plans to host a Valentine’s Day dinner, open to the public, with an optional overnight stay after the meal.

For the Chelten House, booking for small private events will open in the new year, Cretella said.

Based in North Jersey, By Landmark operates nearly 30 venues in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They include the Hotel du Village and the Logan Inn in New Hope.

In the late 1800s, the Elkins Estate was built as a countryside retreat for railroad magnate William Lukens Elkins, who is credited with helping to form what would eventually become SEPTA and the Philadelphia Gas Works.