Page 60 - The Hunt - Fall 2021

Greystone’s original setting was on several family moved into Greystone. He remarried For several years, Moog lived away from the
hundred acres of what was then rural
property. Completed in 1907, the house was commissioned just after the turn of the century by Philip M. Sharples, who made
his money selling his tubular cream separators, manufacturing them in a factory at Evans and Franklin streets in West Chester. “It was built as a good house for a time when the wealthy had servants—but not a good house if you don’t,” says Moog, who lives in part of the building. “It was designed as a 15th-century manor house, but it’s very modern inside. Surprisingly, everything was pretty much up to today’s codes. When we added air conditioning, we didn’t have to cut any holes—we just went through the ducts they had installed for a centralized vacuuming system.”
While Sharples was waiting for Greystone to be completed, his family lived in the impos- ing carriage house at the entry to the property. “It’s more authentic as a style of house,” Moog says. “Unfortunately, it’s now in disrepair.” Sharples had three children with his wife, Helen, who died only four years after the
58 THE HUNT MAGAZINE fall 2021
and had three more children with his second wife, Jean. Unfortunately for Sharples, his fortunes declined in the early years of the Great Depression, and he had to sell off about half of the surrounding property. Ultimately, the family abandoned Greystone in 1935 and moved to Southern California.
In 1907, the same year the Sharples family moved into Greystone, Moog’s father opened the Oriental Rug Renovating Company in Philadelphia. Aram K. Jerrehian had escaped the Armenian genocide in Turkey by fleeing with his family to the United States in 1904. The store later changed its name to Jerrehian Brothers Rugs of Quality, and the family began to prosper in its new surroundings.
In 1942, Aram and his brother purchased an abandoned Greystone and began modest renovations. Some of the family moved into the estate, which still totaled about 450 acres. “We came out from Philadelphia in the 1950s,” says Moog, who’s kept in touch with Sharples descendants still living in Southern California.
area, returning in 1991 with her family to take care of her ailing mother. She decided to stay, transforming Greystone into an events center while maintaining a portion of it as family quarters. Her husband died three years ago, and now her daughter, Elizabeth, has stepped in to help with the marketing.
The Moogs will be celebrating 30 years in business in 2022, and they’re looking forward to a special event they hold every five years— a reunion dinner for couples who had their weddings at Greystone. “We usually have about 100 couples attend,” says Moog. “Of course, we’ve had a few divorces. But we like to think that Greystone marriages last.”
Another popular event is the staging of
a period play by Katherine Bates called
The Manor. The audience is split among different rooms, with the actors mingling among them before assembling together for the denouement. Moog came across the play in California, transporting it to Chester County with help from Aldan’s Colonial Playhouse.