{{Short description|Historic house and gardens in East Nantmeal Township, Pennsylvania, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Welkinweir | nrhp_type = | image = Welkinweir.JPG | caption = The lake in early March | location = 1368 Prizer Rd., [[East Nantmeal Township, Pennsylvania]] | coordinates = {{coord|40|9|13|N|75|40|55|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Pennsylvania#USA | built = 1940 | architect = Tobiessen, Fridtjof | architecture = Colonial Revival | website = {{URL|https://welkinweir.org/}} | added = September 7, 2001 | area = {{convert|162|acre}} | refnum = 01000953<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }} '''Welkinweir''' is a {{convert|197|acre|adj=on}} nonprofit [[arboretum]], garden, mansion, and conservation area that is located at 1368 Prizer Road, [[East Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania|East Nantmeal Township]], [[Pennsylvania]], United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History – Welkinweir |url=https://welkinweir.org/history/ |access-date=2024-12-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> Situated near [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania|Pottstown]], it is part of the [[Hopewell Big Woods]] and is open to the public daily without charge.
==History and notable features== [[File:Meadow at Welkinweir Arboretum.jpg|left|thumb|A meadow in the arboretum]]
Welkinweir was the home of Everett and Grace Rodebaugh, founding members of the conservation-minded Green Valleys Association. They bought the site during the 1930s and spent decades improving it. Their house was erected in 1940, built upon a much smaller house in two sections circa 1750 and 1830. The architect, Fridtjof Tobiessen, designed the 1940 mansion.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995349 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania SP Welkinweir|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author= Estelle Cremers|date= 2001| access-date=December 14, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref>
The property was placed into a conservation easement in 1976, donated to the association in 1997, and is now its headquarters and educational center. In 2001, the estate was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].
The arboretum includes [[cherry]], [[dogwood]], dwarf [[evergreen]]s, [[franklinia]], [[magnolia]], [[Japanese maple]], swamp and sugar [[maple]], and [[Liquidambar|sweetgum]], as well as [[azalea]]s and [[rhododendron]]s.
==See also== * [[List of botanical gardens in the United States]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Welkinweir}} * {{Official website|https://welkinweir.org/}} * [http://www.greenvalleys.org Green Valleys Association]
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}} {{Protected areas of Pennsylvania}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Arboreta in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Botanical gardens in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Parks in Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Houses completed in 1940]] [[Category:Nature centers in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Houses in Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Protected areas of Chester County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:1940 establishments in Pennsylvania]]