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64 A mong Philadelphia's grandest old-money estates, Ardrossan stands out for its baronial splendor and for the fabled Montgomery family, which still presides over it. Completed in 1913, the 50-room Georgian Revival manor is located on the prestigious Main Line, a string of leisure-class communities extending west out of Philadelphia along the Pennsylvania Railroad. At the height of its luster, Ardrossan encompassed 760 rolling acres dotted with some 28 houses and outbuildings, many used by family and estate workers. Financier Col. Robert Montgomery and his wife, Charlotte Hope Montgomery, commissioned Philadelphia society architect Horace Trumbauer to design the estate, naming it after the Colonel's ancestral home in Scotland. Trumbauer was known for his elegant city mansions and country houses, and Ardrossan was hailed as one of his most refi ned and modern, with clean lines embellished with a carved limestone and brick facade, and slate roof. The prestigious London-based design fi rm White, Allom & Company decorated the interiors in an understated fashion. The Montgomerys lived like English aristocrats, hosting fox hunts on the grounds and lavish dinners and dances in the 1,000-square-foot private ballroom, often accompanied by two orchestras. A fl urry of servants attended their needs — butlers, lady's maids, valets, tutors, and nannies — along with a trio of chauffeurs who captained the family's three Pierce- Arrow automobiles. And, the press captured their every move. Ardrossan and its wealthy inhabitants provided a treasure trove of inspiration for Philip Barry's 1939 play The Philadelphia Story, starring Katharine Hepburn, who also starred in the Hollywood fi lm of the same name. High Society, the 1956 fi lm based on the Montgomerys of Ardrossan starred Grace Kelly, with a score by Cole Porter. Our fascination with the Montgomerys and their grand way of life is stoked anew with the publication of Ardrossan: The Last Great Estate on the Philadelphia Main Line ($75, Bauer and Dean Publishers), out this month. The author is Dallas native David Nelson Wren, an independent history and art scholar, who grew up in Oak Cliff and spent his high school years in Canton. In the late 1980s, he moved to Philadelphia, where a mutual friend introduced him to Colonel Montgomery's daughter, Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, then in her mid- 70s. Helen Hope was the inspiration for Hepburn's Tracy Lord character, an elegant, free-spirited heiress. "Helen Hope invited me for tea at Ardrossan," remembers Wren, "but instead of tea, we had cocktails." The stage was set for a great friendship. "Her family was the leader of Main Line society, and yet there was not a snobby bone in her body," says Wren. While the fi ctional Tracy Lord detested the press, Helen Hope courted the attention, keeping THE SPECTACULAR MAIN LINE ESTATE, ARDROSSAN, AND THE LEGENDARY MONTGOMERY FAMILY THAT INHABITED IT, INSPIRED A PLAY AND TWO MOTION PICTURES. A NEW BOOK BY DALLAS NATIVE DAVID NELSON WREN TAKES US INSIDE. BY REBECCA SHERMAN SIDE OF PARADISE THIS Hope Montgomery Scott with her children at Ardrossan. Courtesy family archives. Ardrosson is a working dairy with a herd of prize Ayrshires. Photo by Tom Cane.