Purcell Darrell House Closes: 17 Years of Swarthmore-Style Hospitality
Cathy and Chris Darrell
Whether or not you’ve ever experienced the many charms of the Purcell Darrell House, you may feel a pang of regret now that innkeepers Cathy and Chris Darrell have closed the doors of this Swarthmore bed and breakfast to the public. Its online reviews are full of praise for everything about it—from the antique-filled rooms and gorgeous grounds, to the freshly-baked cookies and homemade granola.
Back in 1980, after the Darrells got married at a bed and breakfast in Bucks County, they knew that they wanted to eventually own and operate one themselves. “We had thought it would be fun for retirement,” Cathy recalls, “but we’re very happy we didn’t wait that long.”
After stints in Vermont, Alaska, and New Jersey—and in other parts of Pennsylvania—the Darrells bought a house on Chester Road in Swarthmore in 1994, and knew immediately it was perfect for a B&B. “There’s a front part of the house for guests,” Chris said, “and the back, where we could be.” Amazingly, although the house was built in the 1880s, Chris and Cathy are only its third owners. One of its notable features is a one-person elevator, believed to have been installed in the 1940s.
The couple spent ten years renovating the house before opening it as a bed and breakfast in 2004. By that time, their first son had gone off to college and their second was a student at Strath Haven High School.
Throughout the inn’s lifespan, Chris and Cathy not only operated it continuously, but also both maintained full-time jobs. Chris has had a long career in technology management, and Cathy is best known to some of her smallest neighbors as “Woodshop Cathy.” She helps three- to six year-olds at Swarthmore Presbyterian Nursery Day School learn their way around hammers and nails. Cathy says “it’s the best job I’ve ever had,” and she plans to continue doing it for as long as possible.
Purcell Darrell House
During their 17 years as innkeepers, the Darrells hosted guests from around the world, including performers and prominent academics—even two Nobel laureates. But whenever they suspected that they had a famous guest under their roof, they imposed a strict discipline on themselves: “I never googled folks, because I didn’t want to act differently around them,” Cathy says. “I wanted to feel relaxed so we could make them feel relaxed.”
Although local friends and neighbors rarely had occasion to stay at the Purcell-Darrell house, the inn still managed to have a hometown feel, partly because, for many years, their neighbor Jonathan Cresson delivered fresh eggs to them from hens raised at his family’s home. At first, providing such locavore cuisine for their guests didn’t come easily, Chris says, because, thanks to the Cressons’ sterling reputation as chicken farmers, “it took a few years to get on Jonathan’s list.”
Charlie Shankweiler, the son of close friends of the Durrells, was a fixture at the inn for years. “The B&B was my second home for a long portion of my childhood,” he says. “My parents worked, … so Cathy—Aunt Cathy to me and my family—took me in every morning before school.” Charlie, now a soccer goalkeeper at Strath Haven High School and the kicker for its district-championship-winning football team, recalls those years fondly. “My time at the B&B was always lovely,” he said. “Aunt Cathy will forever be a part of my life because of the love, and pancakes, she gave me each and every morning.”
Cathy and Chris reflected recently on the wonderful people they met during their years running the Purcell-Darrell House. “We had a couple from Turkey stay with us over the course of six years as their son and then their daughter attended the College,” Chris says. “They live in Portugal now, and we’ll be visiting them soon.”
The Darrells have no plans to leave their home. “We love the house, we love Swarthmore, we have friends and family nearby, and the airport is incredibly convenient,” Cathy says—and, Chris adds, “the elevator is going to come in handy in the years ahead.”
Whenever you stroll through Swarthmore, you can still experience one of the most popular features of the Purcell Darrell House: its lovely surroundings. As one glowing review put it, the house is “set in a lush, long-established neighborhood that could be a movie set for The Philadelphia Story.” Although the inn will be sorely missed, it’s some consolation that Swarthmore is sure to continue working its magic on visitors, no matter where they spend the night.
