Lucky Penny Farm is a beautiful historic estate situated just outside Philadelphia, PA. It is home to a small herd of alpacas, pigs, plus a host of friendly fowl including peacocks and Red Bourbon turkeys. Visitors are welcome by appointment! Chronology
The property on which Lucky Penny Farm sits is a small parcel of the 1000 acres of land in Chester Heights originally purchased by George Wood in
1890. He purchased the land to raise cows which he imported from the British Island of Guernsey. Raising cows was initially a hobby that ultimately launched a brilliant business model. George Wood would later go on to start Wawa Dairies. Wawa's success was due to their sale of "safe milk". They refrigerated their milk before pasturation was available thus decreasing the risks associated with the consumption of raw milk. Wawa continues to be one of the top convenience stores in the country. The historical, whimsical, and beautiful estate home was built by George Wood's grandson, Richard D. Wood and his wife, Marguaretta. They began building this magnificent home in 1936. They continued to expand the home as their family grew. Together, they raised four children including Richard D. Wood, Jr, former President and CEO of Wawa and his sister Elise Wood du Pont, wife of former Delaware Governor Pierre S. The estate is situated on 16 picturesque acres of Pennsylvania countryside just to the south of Philadelphia, The house along with the ponds, and many of the gardens were the vision of Fletcher Steele, a well known landscape architect and close personal friend of Graham Wood, another decendent of George Wood and Richard Woods first cousin. Over the years, Lucky Penny Farm, originally known as Hurricane Hollow then Felicity Farm, seen many changes. A young family which includes two children a small herd of alpacas, three pigs, friendly barn cats, two happy dogs, and several feathery flocks, ducks, guinea hens, turkey's, and chickens, and roosters currently resides there. Since purchasing this home, the resident family has done a number of projects to become greener and semi self sufficient, In addition to rescuing a variety of livestock for eggs and landscaping sevices, all of the animals bedding and waste is composted to nourish the lush flower and vegetable gardens that dot the property. Weeds and kitchen scraps are given to the chickens and pigs as treats rather than throwing it out. A large solar system was installed to minimize the properties carbon foot print and geothermal was added to heat and cool the home. The farm property backs up to the Wawa headquarters, where employees take daily breaks to step outside and visit the critters. And on occasion, the animals wander up to Wawa for some Cheetos's or some bagels. See the picture gallery for a glimpse of this hidden gem.
