Chadds Peak

Richard and Marie Paciaroni, both schoolteachers, started Chadds Peak in 1963 on a farm off Route 1 in Chadds Ford; a 1983 Philadelphia Inquirer article says it was built in 1964. A converted barn held the lodge and rental shop. A rope tow served the beginner slope, and a Poma and a second rope tow the main slope, with snowmaking and lights for night skiing. In 1983 it had four runs, two of them dropping 285 feet, and 36 snow guns.^1,2

After twenty years the Paciaronis sold the business; the Inquirer reported in November 1983 that two chemists had bought it for $500,000 and hoped to add runs and a summer camp. The new owners ran it for about five years. Former skiers place its end in 1987 or 1988, one naming 1987–88 as the last season, and a local history blog says it closed between 1988 and 1989.^1,2

The property then sat idle. The township turned down several plans to develop the land, and an investment broker from Kennett Square later bought it and restored the old barns.^1,2

TodayThe broker's investment firm works from the renovated barn buildings. (2006)¹