What stands out about Chesterbrook a generation later was its sheer audacity. Size was one thing. Legal and political hurdles were another. It took Fox seven years of battle to dig the first shovel of dirt in 1977. Along the way, Chesterbrook foes - who feared a monstrosity in their backyards - sought congressional action to have the land absorbed into the adjacent Valley Forge historical park. The effort failed, but Congress voted anyway to acquire what was then a state park. "I am responsible for it becoming a national park," Fox said.
From scratch
Fox built what he calls the most comprehensively planned community in the state. It's a town unto itself, nearly a mile and a half square, with 2,314 housing units in 28 "villages," a shopping center, a hotel, and a corporate center. More than 5,200 people live there, and as many as 2,000 work there.
"It is a designed-from-scratch, environmentally sound, total community," Fox said the other day from One Tower Bridge in West Conshohocken. He moved there after closing his Chesterbrook office six years ago.
He controlled everything from landscaping to street lamps to a water-runoff plan that became the basis for a new state standard. About one-third of the land is open space, including Valley Creek and its historic walnut trees.
Fox handed over the housing sections to other builders, who seemed to race one another. At one point in the '80s, a dozen builders were hammering away. The last office building was completed in 2000.
Today, Chesterbrook is showing some signs of age. Shake shingles have become streaked from weathering. Community mailboxes show wear. Some windows look as if they could be replaced.
