Clarence Howard Clark Sr

Clarence Howard Clark Sr. (April 19, 1833 – 1906) was a banker, land owner, and developer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Clark was instrumental in developing West Philadelphia, which was transformed over the 19th century from farmland and light industry to a streetcar suburb. He built a 34-room mansion named Chestnutwold at 4200 Locust Street. The three-story brownstone mansion, built at a cost of $300,000, included "hardwood floors; hand-carved mahogany paneling, six feet high around the rooms"; stained glass windows, said by art dealers to be matchless"; wallpaper "hand painted by a Japanese"; an $1,800 chandelier, a $2,000 mantelpiece, mosaic tiling, radiant heat from hot water piped under the floors, and a hydraulic elevator. It also had a private art gallery and a $27,000 library that held a large collection of books, meticulously catalogued in two volumes. The parklike grounds were open to the public, and included a fine collection of plants, including "a rare Chinese jinko tree, the first to be brought to America"