Sunday, September 20, 2026

Question: What was Hayfield House, the building at the heart of Penn State’s Wilkes-Barre campus, before Penn State owned it?

Answer: A coal baron’s country estate. John Conyngham and his wife, Bertha, built Hayfield House on their farm property outside Wilkes-Barre; the Robinson family later gifted it to Penn State in the mid-1960s, and the mansion has anchored the campus ever since. It’s one of the pieces the university is now selling off as part of its 2025 downsizing plan.