The Chrystal Diamond Spring House
Site 7
The Crystal Diamond Spring received acclaim for its sparkling clarity as early as the 18th century; at one time it supplied the drinking water for the village. In the 1920’s the Academy hired an English gardener, Mr. Edward Steadman, to create a “rustic, informal, naturalistic setting” in this natural wetland area. Restored and replanted by HYS in 1992-1994, the Water Gardens feature a network of raised paths, “Oriental” bog gardens, and two “Monet-like” ponds, with water lilies, cattails, irises, foot-bridges, and ornamental flowers and shrubs.
Artists who drew and painted here sensed the magic of the landscape and the healing water “this lucid, liquid gem,” effused Fanny Kemble, the famous English actress who bathed here in the summer of 1843. Albert Van Nesse Greene, painter, illustrator, and etcher, studied at the PAFA under Daniel Garber (1919-1923), at the Chester Springs School (1922-1925), and in New York, Paris, and Washington, DC., then chose to live and work in Chester Springs for 50 years.
Cross the “Dragonfly Bridge,” and follow the path between the two ponds to the Jenny Lind Springhouse.
