February 24, 1935: Iconic Building Has Unfortunate History for Owners

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

February 24, 1935: 11 East Philadelphia Avenue has had its share of tragedies. In 1892, Horace K. Boyer swapped homes with his father, D.B. Boyer, and Horace’s family moved in here. In 1930, Edgar G. Boyer, Horace’s only son, died suddenly in the house.

In 1933, Horace woke one morning and was surprised to find that his live-in housekeeper, Mary Dilliplane, age 59, had not prepared his breakfast. Alarmed, Horace, a proper Victorian gentleman, called his neighbor to check on her. When Mrs. Bohn found her door locked, they summoned the chauffeur, who got a ladder and entered Mary’s third floor room through the porch roof. He found her body hanging from the transom in the closet.

Two years later, Boyer himself died of injuries suffered when he was struck by a car as he was crossing South Reading Avenue.

At Boyer’s death in 1935, the home was converted into seven apartments and two retail shops. It was later gutted and renovated into a very elegant bed and breakfast, known as Twin Turrets, [now The Atherton.]

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