As a young man, Martin Moister built a successful steel company in Philadelphia, and in 1919, at age 33, purchased this six-acre lot on Second Street Pike in Wrightstown Township with his wife, Anna Francis Schoettle. The Moisters soon had children so they added this playground and pool for their family to play in, and a gazebo -- complete with Mercer tiles -- for themselves. By the time Anna and Martin passed away in 1969, they had 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren frolicking on the property.
Eventually the estate was divided and sold. The gatehouse now belongs to one owner, the gazebo to another, and the main house and playground to still another.
The Bucks County Courier Times published this article on the property (there are some fact discrepancies) on Aug. 24, 1977:
Legends have grown up around Wrightstown estate
By Bill Lynskey
Courier Times Special Writer
Many legends have grown up
around the strange estate on the
banks of the Neshaminy Creek
near the old Chain Bridge in
Wrightstown.
To local residents and passing
motorists on heavily traveled
Second Street Pike, the scene is
quite familiar.
Back from the road behind a
cover of foliage stand a pair of bizarre
sliding boards suspended
over a weed-filled pond bed.
Nearby, gaudy gazebos and ornate
fountains spout more weeds
as signs of a tarnished elegance.
Local lore
According to local lore, the old
estate in Wrightstown once belonged
to an eccentric millionaire
who built an amusement
park dedicated to the macabre.
"False," said Wolfgang Lohrbeer,
32, who purchased the stone
house and grounds last year. If
the late Martin Moister (a designer)
constructed an amusement
park, it was for his own
private amusement, says Lohrbeer.
As a matter of fact, the new
owner claims, Moister who built
his estate in the 1930s, installed
the weird slides and fountains as
his own expensive lawn toys.
Lohrbeer has lived there with his
family of three since last September.
During that time, he has
had his share of unwelcome visitors
who ignore the "No Trespassing"
signs to satisfy their
curiosity about the place. Once,
he had to chase away a couple
who were picnicking on his lawn.
Friends have asked Lohrbeer
why he would buy a place which
attracts such impromptu attention
from the uninvited. "Because
I'm an idiot," he tells them
in his mild German accent with
self-effacing charm.
Lohrbeer came to this country
five years ago with his American
wife. Together, they live in the
Spanish-style Moister-designed house on the property. The home
is nestled into the side of a hill overlooking
the Neshaminy. The
house contains various electronic
gadgets and inventions conjured
up in Moister's fertile imagination.
"He just liked to do things in a
big way," said Mrs. Lohrbeer of
the designer.
When the new owners moved in last
September, they discovered many devices
stashed in a maze of secret compartments
throughout the house. One
gadget consists of five multi-colored
fluorescent lights arranged on end
around a rotating carousel. Moister also installed timing devices throughout
the huge home for electrical and
heating systems.
Mystery shrouds the estate's founder
as it shrouds his strange eclectic
tastes.
According to Lohrbeer, his business
was electronics. Lohrbeer also
believes he operated a sheet metal
and concrete business on the side.
Weird ornaments
Moister used these materials to
construct the weird lawn ornaments.
He was an engineering genius, claims
Lohrbeer.
During the 1930s, Moister designed
the artificial pond outside the house.
He pumped in water from nearby Neshaminy Creek to fill it through a specially
designed piping and pump
system. The pump house sits fully intact
to this day at the edge of the
creek.
Moister's tastes were expensive as
well as strange, according to Lohrbeer.
"Today, it would cost over a million
dollars to construct this place in
material costs alone," he said overlooking
the estate. He estimated it
would cost over $60,000 to restore the
seven and one-half acre site to its former
luster. Lohrbeer purchased the
estate in its rundown condition for a
hefty $90,000.
New owner
The new owner, a Newtown wallpaper
and paint contractor, said he had
visions of restoring the estate when he
bought it. However, the financial and
physical burdens that would impose
have made him change his mind.
Lohrbeer intends to sell the Moister home soon. He and his family plan to
resettle in an old Victorian home
which will take less effort to restore.
"Just last June, the whole place
was straightened out," he lamented
while surveying the Moister estate.
"We cleared away all the weeds. A
month later, all the weeds were back
again. I'm going bananas."
The article also included some great photos of the place that I hadn't seen before. I'll try to get my hands on them for you.
