Richard Wall House Museum — Attraction in Cheltenham Township

This place is completely bizarre. The earlier pictures show more restraint in the displays but when we visited today every nook and cranny was crammed with cheap patriotic or Christmas decorations. Display cases of cheap modern jewelery next to antique furniture covered in a modern crocheted American flag blanket then a photocopied portrait taped to a picture frame. It seems like at some point the rooms were themed for different time periods but there is very little signage and every room has creepy mannequins dressed in old clothes but no signage talking about the clothes. A member of the local historical society had me sign in and insisted we list our address and as we moved through the house we were asked 2 more times if we had signed in. And "had we put down our address?" One lady tried to go room to room with us and read the occasional index card out loud to us. Then grabbed one of the display antiques and would wave it saying, "this is an antique". She told us all about the doll house on the third floor but when we got upstairs the third floor was roped off, as was the tool collection in the basement. I overheard two of the "guides" telling another visitor that a president had certainly visited but they couldn't remember who or when. Then they started talking about how the center hall downstairs has two doors so the horse could bring in big logs. The other visitor said, "what were the big logs for?" They responded they didn't know . I am not exaggerating when I say that the room that was for History of Cheltenham had no less than 6 random participaton sports trophies from the early 90s and a plaster bust of an unnamed person. We were directed to the carriage house where it had devolved further, every square foot was taken with folding tables loading with flea market brik-a-brack that people were selling. My pre teen daughter described the whole thing as the "worst historic house ever" and asked how old she had to be to join the historic commission, run for president,...

A true gem next to an excellent playground. Displays are quirky, campy, and fascinating- the dollhouse alone is worth a visit, as is the shoe collection. My son and I learned quite a bit about tools used in that time period and the docent was so kind and helpful. Was a little jarring to see a framed photo of a homophobic, genocidal war criminal on display but I suppose they want to highlight folks with local ties. Hopefully they'll find a more diverse and inspirational selection of historical locals (including more representation of the past and current Delaware Lenape tribe) to honor with a display...

This field stone house was constructed in 1682 by Richard Wall on land granted by William Penn. Descendants of Richard Wall occupied the house until 1847, and built additions in 1725 and 1805 respectively. The house was purchased by Cheltenham...