The Welkinweir estate, which is home to the Green Valley Watershed Association (GVWA), will be the site of an open house on Saturday, May 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will feature organ music performed on the site's fully restored 1928 Skinner pipe organ. In addition, the grounds of Welkinweir will be accessible, and visitors can stroll the property and enjoy the peak of the azalea blossoms.

Attendees are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy under the tent overlooking the great pond. All activities are free and open to the public; no registration is required.

The restoration process for the pipe organ was started in 2014 by Sean O'Donnell & Associates of Boston, Mass. The meticulous process included disassembling the organ, located in the Welkinweir mansion, performing the restoration work and returning it to the site to be reassembled.

According to Victoria Laubach, GVWA executive director, the organ music in the mansion is projected down through an ornamental wooden grill insert in the ceiling above the entrance hall. The organ's pipes and related equipment are located in the attic area on the third floor of the house. The console, which was also restored, is located in an arched window off the entry hall.

The pipe organ came to Welkinweir in 1941, when Everett and Grace Rodebaugh, founding members of GVWA, were searching for a home organ to install in the 18th- and 19th-century farmhouse that they had purchased in East Nantmeal Township.

After looking at both new and used instruments, they chose Opus 742A, which was built for a New York stockbroker and installed in his Park Avenue apartment. When the building was slated to be demolished, the Rodebaughs were able to purchase the instrument, which was shipped via rail to Pottstown and then reinstalled by factory technicians into its new home.

Laubach said it was not uncommon for well-do-families to have organs in their homes. "In the late 19th century through the early 20th century, the only music you could get was to hire an orchestra, which rich people did in the cities to perform at their balls that they hosted," she said. "Or you could have a Victrola (to play records), which was super-scratchy, or have an organ."

She said that home organs seemed to be popular on the East Coast, citing Pierre du Pont, who had a pipe organ installed at Longwood Gardens in 1929. "These homes had organs because people wanted music," she said.

On the day of the open house, a variety of guest organists will perform both modern and classical music. A video display of the keyboard and pedals in operation will be shown in the entry hall, highlighting some of the modern technology that was used to enhance the 1928 electronics. Limited tours of the third floor will be offered to view the multiplexer, pipes and inner workings that make up the organ. Laubach said this is a rare opportunity to see an area of the building not normally accessible to visitors.

Welkinweir is located at 1368 Prizer Road, Pottstown. For more information, visit http://www.welkinweir.org.