Strawberry’s first owner, in 1798, was Judge Lewis, a notable lawyer and
a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
The original house was of the then new American style with certain light
touches reminiscent of the Adam period, the entrance hall having four
niches and gouged mouldings. The wings in the taste of the Greek Revival
were added about 1825 by the second owner Judge Joseph Hemphill, a close
friend of Jefferson and an ardent democrat. Lafayette was among the many
distinguished guests entertained at Strawberry during the second period
of the house.
Strawberry has been restored by the Committee of 1926, a group of women
who were instrumental in building High Street at the Sesquicentennial
Celebration.
The furniture at Strawberry is of the late eighteenth and first quarter
of the nineteenth centuries. In the parlour a fine Sheraton sofa and
four chairs are noteworthy, as is the piano made in Philadelphia by
Charles Albrecht in 1785. Across the hall, the library is consistently
furnished in the Empire style. A fine writing desk with rounded ends, a
Regency suite of black settee and armchairs with X-shaped supports and
four gilt chairs are noteworthy pieces.
Beyond is the Music Room, its windows and mantel forming the decorative
features of the room. Upstairs are two late eighteenth century rooms.
One shows a fine Heppelwhite sideboard and a set of Sheraton chairs, the
other a carved four-post bed, “Beau-Brummel” toilet chest and Sheraton
chairs. Beyond is a small Empire bedroom.
In the opposite wing the Banquet Room is carried out in the same manner,
the star-sprinkled walls, crystal and bronze chandelier and imperial
yellow silk draperies having the formality of the First Empire.
[Illustration: ROUTES TO
OLD HOUSES IN FAIRMOUNT PARK
PUBLISHED BY
The Pennsylvania Museum]
SWEETBRIER NO. 1
CEDAR GROVE NO. 2
BELMONT NO. 3
STRAWBERRY NO. 4
WOODFORD NO. 5
MOUNT PLEASANT NO. 6
THE CLIFFS NO. 7
LEMON HILL NO. 8
[Illustration: WOODFORD, 1756 Shown on map as No. 5]