What on earth is going on in Gladwyne, the Main Line’s priciest zip code? We’ve got some answers.

It’s a mystery that’s consumed this happy hamlet for months: Why, oh why, is a local residential developer gobbling up historic buildings in the heart of Gladwyne Village? And they’re all on opposite sides of the street, so what the heck is he planning?

The whispers began last April when RMR Property Holdings paid $5 million to the Arader Family Trust for the Gladwyne Market building. The market stayed open until RMR apparently forced owner Pete Liccio’s hand. LIccio closed his shop a few weeks ago and cleared out quickly. RMR reportedly had “another use” for the building. Within days, a front window had already been repaired.

(Above) Gladwyne Market building at the bustling corner of Righters Mill and Youngs Ford Roads now and (below) as Breen’s Market in the early 1900s. (Lower Merion Historical Society photo)

The whispers grew louder in early summer when RMR bought the circa-1847 building across the street for $10,250,000. That low-slung building at 358 Righter’s Mill Road is the longtime home to Gladwyne Pharmacy, a luncheonette (Gladwyne Lunch, Gladwyne Lunch Box and now Homeroom) and a PNC Bank branch that closed in 2020. The Old Gladwyne Company was the seller.

Then word got around that RMR had leased another building on an opposite corner: the circa-1798 OMG Salon building – or at least half of it (below). The other half is currently a private residence.

Sources tell us OMG’s landlord had raised the rent so precipitously that Maurice Tannenbaum closed his salon and now sees clients at Ralph Manne Salon in Wynnewood. Apparently, that steeper lease did not deter RMR.

Meanwhile, at the fourth corner, the Union League’s venerable Guard House Inn seems untouchable but sources tell us RMR has coveted the building behind it.

That building, called “Gladwyne Center” currently houses Merion Square Cleaners, The Yoga Spot and W. F. Watson law office.

We’re told that the owner of Gladwyne Center lives across the parking lot and isn’t budging. She reportedly told RMR she’d be happy to sell … for, um, $50 million.

So what the heck is afoot here?

Certainly, it’s a bit unusual for a real estate investor/developer to take three, non-contiguous properties, each of which have historical designations. It’s not like they can build a skyway connector or easily make substantial changes to the building’s facades or footprints.

We did a little digging and have concluded, fingers crossed, that RMR’s investment won’t be as threatening to the character of Gladwyne Village as some have feared.

Some background: RMR Property Holdings is owned by a local couple – Andre Golsorkhi and Autumn Oser – proprietors of Haldon House, a high-end, bespoke design-and-build firm.

A Bryn Mawr native and 1997 Harriton graduate,  Golsorkhi met his future wife when both worked in tech. In 2022, they bought an “as is” home just minutes from Gladwyne on Golsorkhi’s dream street, Rock Creek Rd. in Bryn Mawr. They razed the 1950’s era home and built and furnished an elegant $8.8 million, 8,500 square-foot-house with serious Restoration Hardware vibes in its place.

The new construction exuded such Old World charm, the couple was featured in March 4, 2025 real estate section of the New York Times. Naturally, Gladwyne locals hope the article’s headline isn’t prescient: “Loving a House From Afar, Then Tearing It Down.”

Golsorhki hasn’t responded to our request for comment but he has shared preliminary plans with Gladwyne Civic Association leaders, the Gladwyne Library Board (reportedly), and Lower Merion’s Historic Preservation Planner Greg Prichard.

“There are no plans for any residential development or national chains in either of the properties we’ve acquired,” Golsorkhi assured the Gladwyne Civic Association via Facebook post. “Our focus is entirely on creating a bespoke community hub that is consistent with historical architecture and that is distinctly Gladwyne.”

He’s also “working closing with … tenants to reimagine their spaces while supporting their continued presence in the Village. Our goal is to thoughtfully restore and reimagine the Village Shoppes and Gladwyne Market buildings into a timeless collection of spaces that celebrate local merchants, serve our community, and foster genuine connection.”

A load of lovely fat with precious little meat on those rhetorical bones but a start, perhaps.

What that “restoration” and “reimagining” will mean for the Village’s notoriously snarled streets and dicey parking remains to be seen. Note to Haldon House: Can you bury those ugly electrical wires while you’re at it?

It does appear that, unlike Gladwyne Market, Gladwyne Pharmacy – which is also a bustling gift shop and vaccination clinic and where Golsorkhi himself is a customer – is safe. Said one local: “There would be a mutiny if it closed.”

It’s also business-as-usual for the adjourning Homeroom luncheonette. “Our new landlords have been a delight to work with so far,” owner Henry Morgan assures SAVVY.

The old Gladwyne Market looks like the first target for a Haldon House restoration and a new tenant.

There may also be signs of life at the former PNC bank space near the pharmacy – there’s a new AC unit, at least. Sources tell us Haldon House may put its design showroom and offices there.

The hope is that worried whispers will fade when Golsorkhi finally shows his hand and shares his vision. He’s working with Gladwyne Civic Association on a January date and a venue large enough to accommodate the crowd.

Concerned locals packed the association’s annual meeting last week. Golsorkhi did not attend but his real estate investments were the talk of the town.

“Based on what I’ve heard and seen, we’re hopeful the historic buildings will be preserved tastefully and used thoughtfully. But we’re very much in trust-but-verify mode,” newly elected Gladwyne Civic Association President Jim Magnatta tells SAVVY. He said Golsorkhi had provided only a “general overview” over Zoom in the last two weeks.

Because Gladwyne Village has been designated an “Historic District” in Lower Merion, any exterior work – from window replacement to full demolition – requires review by the Historic Architecture Review Board (HARB) and board of commissioners’ approval. And there have been a few times when demolition “for the greater good” of the district has been approved. Cricket Flats in Ardmore is a recent case in point.

Still, Lower Merion Historic Preservation Planner Greg Prichard, like Magnatta, is cautiously optimistic.

“I’ve met with Andre a few times and I think he genuinely wants to make the village center in Gladwyne a better, more inviting place,” Prichard shares. A presentation before Prichard and HARB will likely be Golsorkhi’s first official stop in the township approval process. No formal plans have been submitted to date.

In a world when locals often cast developers as greedy and destructive, is it possible this one isn’t?

Time will tell but Lower Merion Building and Planning Director Chris Leswing, for one, thinks so:

“We can’t figure the motive out either…the buildings can’t be torn down and he is not proposing any residential. Maybe he just wants to do a good thing?”

Now wouldn’t that be nice.