Donald S. Robitzer Jr. grew up on the Village Greens Golf Course operated by his family for more than 50 years.
As a boy, he spent evenings watering the course and days playing golf. Robitzer appreciates the tribute to his family’s legacy at The Residence at Village Greens, a senior living community opening this summer on the former golf course property. “I was born in 1968, and I spent my early summers golfing and working on the course,” said Robitzer, who is senior vice president and COO of the Commonwealth Group in Wilmington, Del.
“It was truly a family affair, with my dad and my uncles working there. Everybody chipped in.” Robitzer purchased Village Greens Golf Course in 2019.
He sold a portion of the property being developed by IntegraCare and Weathervane Capital Partners. Triple Crown Construction is building The Residence at Village Greens, a 130,000-square-foot senior living community with 131 units operated by IntegraCare. “It is bittersweet because all the members of my family have such fond memories of the golf course,” Robitzer said.
“It was the core of our family. Everybody was there. To see it go away — particularly because it was my grandfather’s design, thoughts and dreams — was bittersweet.
But it ran its course and there was another, better use for it.” Appropriately, golf will hold a prominent role at the new senior living community built on a former golf course. Golf-playing residents may work on their short game on a putting green located near the entrance to The Residence at Village Greens.
Those who want a bite to eat or a cool beverage may visit the golf-themed pub near the putting green. “Many of our depositors and their families were loyal Village Greens golfers,” said Terri Sanelli, the senior living community’s executive operations officer. “I love hearing their stories and memories of Village Greens Golf Course.
It is heartwarming to listen to the passion and pride that many of our future residents, their families and team members hold for this beautiful property and the surrounding area.” The Residence at Village Greens will include 60 Independent Living, 51 Personal Care and 20 Memory Care units. The IntegraCare community offers Independent Living without a buy-in option.
It features spacious private residences in a variety of layouts. Other amenities include restaurant-style dining, a fitness center, theater, beauty salon, sunrooms and large community rooms. The senior living community has cutting-edge safety and convenience technology.
For more than 50 years on the same site, area golfers honed their skills on the 2,795-yard, 18-hole Village Greens Golf Course. “The golf clubhouse was located in what was the original Thomas J. Oberlin family barn,” said Paul Miller of the Sinking Spring Area Historical Society.
Miller referred to the family that occupied property for more than 150 years. In 1875, Thomas J. Oberlin married Eva Ann Mull, the granddaughter of Thomas Mull, who had built the colonial style Mull Mansion in 1802.
The family opened an educational academy in the mansion and later cultivated the renown Oberlin Peony Gardens. The Mull-Oberlin family descendants sold the property in 1963. The Ye Olde Spring House Restaurant occupied the mansion next.
Eventually, the Bean Funeral Home bought the mansion in 1990 and is still at the site. Donald J. Robitzer acquired the property’s remaining 34 acres in 1963 and built the Village Greens Golf Course, which opened on June 9, 1965, and operated until 2017.
“My grandfather was a partner in Berkshire Beverage with his brothers,” Donald S. Robiter Jr. said.
. “He took on another venture and purchased the land in 1963. My dad was fresh out of college with an agronomy major and had the educational background to take over that business.
My grandfather designed the course. Essentially, the Robitzer family built the actual golf course with the assistance of some friends.” In 1974, Donald S.
Robitzer Sr. moved his immediate family away from Sinking Spring to pursue other opportunities. His brother Randy Robitzer then managed the golf course.
“My uncle stepped up and serviced the property along with my grandfather until my grandfather’s retirement,” Donald S. Robitzer Jr. said.
“My uncle Randy ran it until I bought it from them.” New street names on the property honor the Robitzer family. Haines Street pays homage to Donald S.
Robitzer Jr.’s grandmother’s maiden name, and Chiefs Way is a tribute to his grandfather’s nickname, Chief. Plans to develop the property date back to 2007, although the golf course operated another decade.
“The labor costs and the costs to keep it up just consumed it,” Robitzer Jr. said. “Something had to be done.
I had the ability to take it on and continue the legacy. I hope that I’ve achieved that to some extent. It is very near and dear to my heart.
It’s exciting to see it move on and still be in the family.” The Residence at Village Greens will do its part to uphold the family-friendly golf legacy. “The story behind the story is so fascinating,” said Heidi Lyons, a community relations director at The Residence at Village Greens.
“Golf played an important role at this site since the mid-1960s, so we are honored to build on that tradition in at least a small way.” The senior living community’s putting green will be complemented by the yet-to-be-named golf-themed pub, where residents and visitors may order food and drinks while socializing. “It’s going to be like our version of a Starbucks,” said Kim Kostival, a community relations director at The Residence at Village Greens.
The senior living community also will have a virtual golf simulator. Golfers may hone their skills in an indoor setting. “Our residents who enjoy golf will have plenty of opportunities to stay in the game,” Sanelli said.
“That only seems appropriate considering the history of this site.” For more information, contact Kim Kostival or Heidi Lyons at The Residence at Village Greens at [email protected] or hlyons@integracare.
com or call 484.709.2561.
.
