Catasauqua, Pennsylvania $1,250,000

Bedrooms: 20
Approximate square footage: 24000
Contact: Randy Wagner
717-604-1333
rawgen@comcast.net
www.cameronestateinn.com/DeryMansion.htm

The D. G. Dery Mansion

circa 1900, 1910 and 1917
The D. G. Dery Mansion is located in the Catasauqua Residential Historic District (listed to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1984) which includes 63 contributing residential
buildings. The D. G. Dery Mansion was constructed in 1900 in a Georgian Revival style but was
substantively enlarged between 1910 and 1917 to become the largest and most architecturally
significant house in the district and Lehigh County. The grand Classical Revival mansion with
Beaux Art influences covers almost the entire length of the block and its size is accentuated by
massive columns on its primary porch and east elevation's portico.

Desiderius George Dery (1867-1942) was born in Austria and studied textiles at the Vienna
Textile Academy before immigrating to the United States in 1891. Dery moved his family to
Catasauqua and constructed a large Colonial Revival two-and-a-half story home. His financial
success from his silk mills was quickly reflected in his primary residence. From 1910-1917, his
home at 520 Fifth Avenue was dramatically enlarged, adding a full-height third floor and large
three-story additions to the building's west and south facades. Included in these renovations
were a large stained glass skylight constructed in the Tiffany-style in the primary stair hall, a
roof top astronomical observatory, an indoor thirty-five foot mosaic tile swimming pool, art
gallery, and a basement-level 1,500 square foot ballroom. The house became a symbol of Derys
financial success with elaborate decorative elements on both the interior and exterior. His
renovations including numerous stained glass windows, Italian walnut wainscoting, massive
limestone columns, a Moravian tiled terrace, were rumored to have cost in excess of $1.5
million in 1917.

The Classical Revival-styled mansion with extensive limestone embellishment of decorative

details, such as window sills, lintels with center keystones and jack arches, dentil cornice,
impressive fluted columns and pilasters, terrace balustrade, parapet balustrade, and door
surrounds is of masonry construction with reinforced concrete structure and brick curtain
walls. The house also features a mixture of stained and decorative art glass windows, two flat
top roof terraces, expansive two story portico, marble fireplaces, conservatory, solarium,
extensive block paneling, coffered ceilings, parquet hardwood floors, basement Rathskellar
with Gothic plaster ceiling, The south wing on the first floor was originally a massive single
room with extensive plaster moldings that housed Mr. Dery's art collection. And the house still
contains the original Otis elevator that services all five levels of the house. An extensive tunnel
system links the main house to the ancillary outbuildings and carriage house.

The second floor plan of the house is similar to that of the first floor with rooms opening off of
the main stair hall. A long corridor connects to the stair hall and runs south along the front wall
of the south wing. Most of the rooms are arranged into suites although they retain a number of
original decorative features like hardwood floors, plaster walls and ceilings. Some rooms have
paneled walls or built-in bookshelves. Most rooms retain their deep molded woodwork with
baseboards, crown molding, and door and window surrounds.

The main block of the D.G. Dery Mansion has a third floor that consists of four smaller rooms
opening off of the center hall. The third floor throughout has plaster walls and ceilings, molded
wood baseboard, door and window architraves, and crown molding in some of the rooms. There
is access out to the rear roof deck from the southernmost bedroom. The western wing roof
deck can be accessed from this section of the mansion, and from the former observatory
located in the southwest corner of the building. This room opens from the utilitarian stair
tower.

The basement level of the mansion contains a commercial kitchen, lounge, bar, ballroom, and
several storage rooms. Just off of the secondary Pine Street entrance is a formal entrance hall
that holds the main stair, complete with the same decorative metal balustrade present on its
upper floors. The walls of the stair hall are covered with flush marble wainscot. The main
lounge is a long narrow room with rough plaster walls and ceiling with a plaster cove cornice.
The room has a decorative wooden mantel and cornice. The room opens into a second room
located within the rounded tower. Its western wall is rounded like that of the first floor dining

room. The ceiling in the bar is decorated with delicate, decorative molding arranged in a
geometric pattern. Around the rounded west wall are several leaded glass double-hung
windows. The upper sash contains a hand-painted window plaque that depicts a hunting motif.
The lead cames are arranged with hexagonal shapes with smaller squares between. The
wooden sash and frames have dramatic termite damage.

The large ballroom is located within the large south wing. There is a decorative stair in the
southwest corner of the ballroom. The stair gently curves with graceful handrails and sloping
closed stringers. There is a decorative metal balustrade and newel posts and a paneled
spandrel. The ballroom does open into a smaller room to the south of the stairs currently used
as storage. The room has a coffered ceiling.

Other prominent spaces located in the basement include a large multi-room commercial
kitchen, a large vault located along the east wall and several storage areas located in the
western rear extension. The property included several subterranean tunnels that accessed
other areas that were either part of the property or instrumental in the running the house,
including one connecting to the underground concrete room that houses the heating plant. The
tunnel system also houses the electrical, sewer, water, and gas utilities.

In addition to the main mansion, there is a frame, Late Victorian Carriage house located in the
southeast corner of the property. The one-and-a-half story building was constructed c. 1899
and features a large complex roof with several cross gables and dormers. The roof is covered
with slate and has a small louvered ventilator. There is a mixture of lattice casement windows
and double-hung Queen Anne sash. An apartment is located on the second floor of the carriage
house. There is also a brick, early-twentieth century garage to the west of the carriage house.
The garage is one-story in height with a flat roof with a short brick parapet wall topped with
terra cotta coping tiles. The garage has symmetrically placed eight-over-one double-hung wood
windows.
The house is under renovation and in progress upgrades include, new wiring, new plumbing,
energy efficient window, exterior brick re-pointing and exterior painting, and new water supply
line.