I agree with you. This is the closest i've been able to get...

   class whatever{
     
     private $Properties=array();

     function __set($key,$val){
        try{
         if(!isset($this->Properties[$key])){
            $this->Properties[$key]=$val;
         }
        }catch(Exception $e){
        //...
        }
      }

      function __get($key){
       try{
        if(isset($this->Properties[$key])){
          return $this->Properties[$key];
        }
       }catch(Exception $e){
       //...
       }
     }
    }