Around Gladwyne and Bryn Mawr, Lower Merion's older estate homes often have curved or split-run staircases with non-standard tread widths, so we custom-fit every rail instead of forcing a generic one. With 74.1% homeownership, many families here are keeping a parent in that house instead of selling it. Send a photo of your stairs and we'll tell you what it takes to fit them.
Why a stairlift installed in Lower Merion, PA is planned around the way this specific community lives, not stamped out from a one-size-fits-all template.
The township covers 23.83 square miles about 11.9 miles northwest of central Philadelphia, bordered on the east by the Schuylkill River and on the south by City Avenue, having transitioned from farmland to suburb after World War II.
Source ↗Lower Merion holds the Merion Friends Meeting House (in continuous use since 1695, the oldest such site in the US) along with 1704-era homes like Harriton House and General Wayne Inn, plus three National Register historic districts (Bryn Mawr College, Gladwyne, Mill Creek) reflecting a large stock of large, century-plus-old estate homes.
Source ↗Lower Merion is notably affluent -- 2007 median household income was $114,608 (median family income $148,123) with only 1.9% of families below the poverty line -- and Main Line Health is the largest single employer with 4,168 workers.
Source ↗Adjust the options below and watch the price update in real time. This is the same pricing our team uses when they come out for a free home assessment. No hidden fees, no upsells.
Compare your options honestly. A stairlift is the only choice that keeps you in the home you love, at a fraction of every alternative.
| Your option | Upfront cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Stairlift Installation Best value Professional install by All American Stairlifts, Lower Merion PA | $3,200 – $17,100 One-time | $3,200 – $17,100 Lifetime use |
| Moving to a single-story home Selling, buying, closing, moving costs in the Montgomery market | $50,000+ Plus relocation stress | $50,000+ Loss of community ties |
| Assisted living facility Montgomery County average, private room | $4,500/mo Recurring | $540,000 And rising annually |
| In-home caregiver (8 hrs/day) Licensed home health aide, Florida market rates | $6,000/mo Recurring | $730,000+ Before wage increases |
| Home elevator installation Requires shaft construction, permits, months of work | $25,000 to $50,000 Plus renovation | $28,000 to $55,000 Includes maintenance |
Sources: AARP Cost of Care Survey 2025, Genworth Cost of Care Study, and Pennsylvania Department of Elder Affairs. Figures reflect Lower Merion metro averages.
Most Lower Merion homeowners qualify for at least one of these programs. We help you apply at no cost.
Up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans and their surviving spouses. One-time, tax-free, no repayment.
Eligibility: Veterans & surviving spousesHome & Community-Based Services Waiver may cover up to 100% of installation for income-qualified residents.
Eligibility: Medicaid + medical needWith a doctor's letter of medical necessity, the full cost is deductible on Schedule A as a qualified medical expense.
Eligibility: Taxpayers who itemize0% and low-APR plans through our lending partners. Soft credit pull, instant approval, no prepayment penalty.
Eligibility: All homeownersNot sure which applies? Our local specialist will walk you through every program you might qualify for during your free home assessment. Get started here →
The kinds of staircases and installs we see across Lower Merion's older and newer homes alike. Drag to scroll, or use the arrows and dots below.
I’ve lived in our Bala Cynwyd stone twin since 1988. After a fractured pelvis I was crawling up the stairs on my hands and knees for three months. All American measured on Tuesday and installed on Thursday. I rode upstairs that same afternoon and the original oak banister has not been touched. My husband said it is the first home improvement in 38 years that actually made our lives easier.
Our 1928 Gladwyne estate has a sweeping walnut staircase in the foyer that I was terrified a stairlift would ruin. All American fabricated a curved rail that follows the banister’s arc without touching a single spindle. My garden club met in the foyer two weeks after the install and not one person noticed it. When I showed them, three of them asked for the phone number.
Our Penn Valley split-level has the classic 1960s landing turn that two other companies said required two separate lifts. All American scanned the whole staircase, fabricated one curved rail, and my father rides from the front door to the bedrooms in a single pass. One ride, zero transfers. The swivel seat at the top lets him step off onto the hallway floor.
I was buying this for my mother in Wynnewood from New York. I was driving down every weekend to help her up and down the stairs after her knee surgery, and that was not sustainable. All American installed a straight rail on the carpeted stairs in three hours. Now I still drive down on weekends, but it is for dinner, not for stair duty. The brown seat matches the carpet so well my mother says the house looks the same.
The outdoor lift on our Bryn Mawr stone porch has been through a full winter, single-digit mornings, ice, salt, everything the Delaware Valley throws at it, and has not missed a single ride. The stainless hardware and cold-weather battery are built for this climate. My husband has MS and this lift is the reason he can still leave his own house independently.
I am in a wheelchair, the result of a job-site accident, and a seated stairlift was never going to work for me. All American installed a platform lift on the indoor stairs of our Ardmore Victorian. I roll on, press one button, and I am on the upper level without transferring. Keystone First covered most of the cost through Community HealthChoices. This changed everything about how we live in this house.
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(800) 965-0350 Call Now. It's FreeThese are the three guides our Lower Merion customers read most often before booking. Written by our installers, not marketers.
VA HISA, Medicaid waivers, IRS medical deduction, state grants, and 0% financing, with the actual forms you need.
What Original Medicare and Advantage plans actually pay toward a stairlift, and the legitimate workarounds when they don't.
Straight vs curved, standard vs heavy-duty, indoor vs outdoor. A read that saves you from buying the wrong model.
Compare Our Lower Merion Stairlifts
Select a stairlift on the leftabove to see full specs, pricing, and how it compares to the alternatives.
Stairlift Types
Bestseller
The workhorse of the Main Line, from Bala Cynwyd twins to Wynnewood colonials. Over 65% of the stairlifts we install across Lower Merion are this model.
vs Curved: 3x less expensive and installed in one visit. vs Home elevator: 10-15x less cost and no construction. vs Moving bedroom downstairs: Keeps your home exactly as it is.
Custom-Built
Custom rails for Gladwyne estate foyers, Penn Valley split-level landings, and three-story colonials. When your staircase has a turn, a sweeping foyer curve, or a split-level mid-landing, the rail has to be manufactured for your exact geometry.
vs Straight with landing break: One smooth ride instead of transferring seats. vs Home elevator: Half the cost, no construction permits, no shaft needed. vs Moving: A fraction of what selling and relocating costs.
Weather-Tough
Freeze-thaw rated, cold-weather batteries, built for the Delaware Valley winter. Lower Merion’s raised stone front porches are the most common outdoor install we do on the Main Line.
vs Standard stairlift outdoors: Won't rust, seize, or void its warranty. vs Exterior ramp: No permits, no concrete work, no lost yard. vs Home entry renovation: Installed in a single day.
400 lb Rated
When comfort and capacity matter more than the standard 300 lb limit. The reinforced frame handles up to 600 lbs with a 22-inch padded seat, wider than any standard model.
vs Standard stairlift: Extra capacity and wider seat for maximum comfort. vs Custom furniture lift: A fraction of the price with faster install. vs Home elevator: Much lower cost with the same weight confidence.
When you call All American Stairlifts, you'll speak directly with a licensed installer who lives and works in Montgomery, PA.
Lower Merion Stairlift Specialist · 15+ years of experience
(800) 965-0350 [email protected]Proven local experience. Licensed. Insured. No surprises.
From the grand stone estates of Gladwyne, where Mill Creek Road addresses sit on multi-acre lots with staircases that require curved rails through sweeping foyer turns, to the 1920s stone colonials and Tudors of Bryn Mawr designed by architects like Mellor & Meigs, from the 1950s stone twins of Bala Cynwyd that produce the most predictable straight-rail geometry on the Main Line to the split-level ranches of Penn Valley where the mid-landing turn is the most common curved-rail trigger we see. We know which Merion Station blocks have Colonial Revival houses with original oak banisters that homeowners refuse to let anyone touch, which Wynnewood colonials need a two-stage first-to-third-floor installation, which Ardmore Victorians fall inside the HARB-reviewed historic district, and which Villanova estates need two weeks of custom rail fabrication. We also staff Narberth, Haverford, Radnor, and Wayne without travel fees.
See our full Pennsylvania service area →
Every home is different. Here are six recent installs from Montgomery County. Tap any project to see the full gallery, tech specs, and the story behind it.
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Straight Stairlift, Standard Use
Estimated: $3,200 – $6,250
A member of our Lower Merion team is reviewing your answers right now and will call you within 24 hours. Your quote is free and there is no obligation to buy.
Straight answers about cost, installation, and funding, no sales fluff. Browse by topic or call us if you have a question that isn't here.
Straight-rail lifts for a single flight run in the range you'd see anywhere in Montgomery County. Curved rail costs more because it's custom-measured and built to the exact turns of your staircase, and a lot of the older stock here, including Gladwyne, Bryn Mawr, and Mill Creek, has landings, winders, or a curve partway up that push the job into curved-rail territory. I give a firm number after I've actually measured the stairs, not off a phone description.
Not by itself. A straight run in a postwar colonial off City Avenue prices the same as a straight run anywhere else. What adds cost is a curved or split staircase, hand-carved newels that need to be worked around, or non-standard tread depth, all more common in homes going back to the historic districts than in a 1960s ranch, but it's the geometry that drives price, not the deed date.
A straight staircase is usually a few hours, done same day. Curved or split staircases, which show up often in Gladwyne and the Mill Creek and Bryn Mawr College historic districts, need the rail custom-built off a template first, so figure a couple weeks between the measure and the install date rather than a same-day job.
Yes. Curved rail is built to match the exact geometry of the staircase, including narrow treads or a mid-flight landing, which turns up a lot in homes going back to the 1700s and 1800s around here. I measure the actual stairs before ordering any rail so it fits the house you have, not a generic template.
A couple of programs run through the county. Pennsylvania's Community HealthChoices (CHC) Medicaid waiver covers a stairlift as a home adaptation once it's written into your approved care plan, no fixed dollar cap, it's case-by-case through your managed care organization (1-866-550-4355). If you're not on Medicaid, the state OPTIONS program for seniors 60+ is administered through the Montgomery County Area Agency on Aging at 610-278-3601 and can help with home modifications on a sliding, income-based cost share.
It can. The program reimburses up to $600 a month for caregiving costs and separately caps out at a $5,000 lifetime maximum for home modifications and assistive devices, a category a stair glide qualifies under. Reimbursement runs on a sliding scale tied to income relative to the federal poverty level. It's administered through the Montgomery County Office of Aging at 610-278-3601.
The VA's Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant goes up to $126,526 and the Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant up to $25,350 for FY 2026, and a stairlift can be built into an approved adaptation plan under either one. One program that will NOT cover it is HISA, stair glides are explicitly excluded there. If a stairlift is medically prescribed, VA Prosthetics can cover it too, with no set dollar cap. Call 1-800-827-1000 to find out which track fits your situation.
Lower Merion Stairlift Specialist · 15+ yrs
I've measured stairs in Gladwyne and Bryn Mawr where the walls aren't square and the newel post was carved sometime in the 1800s, and you don't bolt a straight rail to that and call it a day. Most of the curved-stair jobs I do in this township end up custom because the tread widths were never standardized to begin with. Main Line Health is right up the road as the biggest employer around here, and between that and how many two- and three-story stone houses sit between City Avenue and the Schuylkill, I get a steady mix of hospital-discharge installs and jobs for people who've simply decided to stay in the house they've owned for thirty years.
Your free home assessment takes about 45 minutes. A certified installer walks your stairs with you, measures with a laser, answers every question about the rail, the freeze-thaw hardware, HARB review, and PA HIC registration, and leaves you with a written quote honored for 30 days. No sales pitch. No pressure. No charge.
More than 300 Lower Merion and Main Line homeowners have said yes. Here is what the first step looks like.
Two quick screens. We use the full address to dispatch the installer closest to you.
A certified Lower Merion technician visits your home, measures your stairs, and answers every question. 100% free. No obligation.
Most stairlifts are installed in a single day by our licensed Lower Merion team. Clean, quiet, ready to ride the same afternoon.
Or call (800) 965-0350, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm
