HEWN STONE COUNTRY HOUSES
Cost was not an object in building many of the larger old countryseats
about Philadelphia, for their owners were men of wealth and station,
prominent in the affairs of the province and sharing its prosperity.
Influenced by the builders of the Georgian period in England, and often
under their personal supervision, the buildings on numerous great
estates about the early metropolis of the American colonies were
constructed of quarried stone, whether sawed in the form of "brick"
stone or hammered to a relatively smooth surface.
Surfaced stone, however, especially when cut into rectangular blocks, is
to be recommended only for public work or for very large and pretentious
residences of formal character and arrangement. In small buildings, and
unless handled with skill and discretion in larger work, its
psychological effect upon the mind is that of uncompromising and
somewhat repellent austerity; it suggests the prison-like palace rather
than the domestic atmosphere of a true home,--an atmosphere to be had in
stone only by preserving the greater spontaneity of irregular shapes
and rock faces characteristic of Germantown ledge stone.
That the early builders of this vicinity were skilled stone masons and
employed this form of building construction with sympathy and
intelligence is indicated by the splendid old mansions that still remain
as monuments to their genius,--stately, elegant, enduring, yet withal
pleasing, comfortable and eminently livable. The use of "brick" stone
for several of them has given a lighter scale, and by repetition of many
closely related and prominent horizontals has simulated a greater
breadth of facade and a lesser total height, both beneficial to the
general appearance. As in ordinary brickwork, the vertical pointing is
as wide as the horizontal, but the joints break, whereas the course
lines are continuous, thus emphasizing the horizontals of light mortar.
Unquestionably the most notable mansion of hewn stone in Greater
Philadelphia is Cliveden, the countryseat of the Chew family, located in
extensive grounds at Germantown Avenue and Johnson streets, Germantown.
One of the most substantial and elaborate residences of that day, it is
two and a half stories in height and built of heavy masonry, the front
illustrating well the pleasing use of surfaced Germantown stone, flush
pointed, the other walls being of rubble masonry, plastered and marked
off to simulate dressed stone. Two wings, one semi-detached and the
other entirely so, extend back from the main house and contain the
kitchen, servants' quarters and laundry. The classic front entrance
opens into a large hall with small rooms on each side which were
originally used as offices. Beyond and above are many spacious rooms
with excellent woodwork and handsome chimney pieces.
No handsomer Colonial facade is to be found in America. Classic in
feeling and symmetrical in arrangement, it is excellently detailed in
every particular. Above a slightly projecting water table the repeated
horizontals of the limestone belt at the second-floor level, the heavy
cornice with prominent modillions and the roof line impart a feeling of
repose and stability quite apart from the character of the building
material itself. The ranging windows, shuttered on the lower floor, are
distinguished by their keyed limestone lintels and twelve-paned upper
and lower sashes, while the roof is elaborated by two great chimney
stacks, a like number of well-designed dormers with round-topped
windows, and five handsome stone urns mounted on brick piers at the
corners and over the entrance. The central portion of the facade
projects slightly under a pediment in harmony with the splendid Doric
doorway beneath, of which more elsewhere.
[Illustration: PLATE XXXVIII.--Detail of Iron Balustrade, 216 South
Ninth Street; Stoop with Wing Flights, 207 La Grange Alley.]
[Illustration: PLATE XXXIX.--Iron Newel, Fourth and Liberty Streets;
Iron Newel, 1107 Walnut Street.]
Cliveden was erected in 1761 by Benjamin Chew, a friend of Washington
and a descendant of one of the oldest and most distinguished Virginia
families, his great-grandfather, John Chew, having settled at James
Citie about 1621, and, like Benjamin Chew's grandfather and father, who
resided in Maryland, having been prominent in the courts and public
affairs generally. Benjamin Chew studied law with Andrew Hamilton, and
at the age of nineteen entered the Middle Temple, London, the same year
as Sir William Blackstone. Removing to Philadelphia in 1754, he was
provincial counselor in 1755, attorney general from 1755 to 1764,
recorder of the city from 1755 to 1774, a member of the
Pennsylvania-Maryland Boundary Commission in 1761, register general of
the province in 1765, and in 1774 succeeded William Allen as chief
justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Following the Revolution
he served as a judge and president of the High Court of Errours and
Appeals until it was abolished in 1808.
Justice Chew was brought up a Quaker and his attitude coincided with
that of many others who manifested sympathy for the American cause, yet
hesitated at complete independence. In defining high treason to the
April Grand Jury of 1776, the last held under the Crown, he stated that
"an opposition by force of arms to the lawful authority of the King or
his Ministry is high treason, but in the moment when the King, or his
Ministers, shall exceed the authority vested in them by the
Constitution, submission to their mandate becomes treason." It is not
surprising, therefore, that in August, 1777, Judge Chew and John Penn,
the late proprietary, were arrested by the City Troop and on refusing
parole were imprisoned at the Union Iron Works until sometime in 1778.
With fourteen attractive and accomplished children, two sons and twelve
daughters, things were always lively at Cliveden, and it was the scene
of lavish entertainment of Washington, Adams and other members of the
first Continental Congress. Around its classic doorway the Battle of
Germantown raged most fiercely. The house had been occupied by the
British under Colonel Musgrave, the Chew family being away at the time;
and so effective a fortress did it prove that the center of Washington's
advance was checked and the day lost to the American arms. Great damage
was done inside and out by cannon balls, some of it being still visible,
although several workmen spent the entire following winter putting the
house in order. During his triumphal farewell tour of the twenty-four
American States in 1825, a breakfast was tendered to La Fayette at
Cliveden on the day of his reception at Wyck.
In 1779, Justice Chew sold Cliveden to Blair McClenahan, a director of
the Bank of Pennsylvania, for nine thousand dollars, but bought it back
again in 1787 for twenty-five thousand dollars. Since that time it has
remained in the family and is still occupied part of the year. Chew's
Woods, formerly part of the estate, have been presented to the city as a
public park, but the stable behind the house, and connected with it by
an underground passage, still remains much as ever; and therein reposes
the curious old family coach.
Second only to Cliveden in architectural interest is The Highlands,
located on the Skippack Pike overlooking the Whitemarsh Valley from a
lofty site among giant old oaks, pines and sycamores. It is a splendid
example of American architecture after the late Georgian manner, and
although not built until after the Revolution, its character is such
that it deserves to be included among the Colonial houses of the
vicinity. The south or entrance front is built of squared and nicely
surfaced stones laid up with joints breaking much like brickwork, the
pointing being of the ridge or weathered type. The sides are of ordinary
rubble but plastered and lined off to simulate hewn stone. The central
section of the facade projects slightly, two Ionic pilasters of white
marble supporting a pediment within which a semicircular fanlight
ventilates and lights the attic. Marble belts at the first-and
second-floor levels, marble window sills and keystones in the lintels
relieve and brighten the effect, while an unusual diamond fret lends
distinction to the cornice. The windows have six-paned upper and lower
sashes with blinds on all stories, as in the case of most of the later
Colonial houses. Ornamental wrought-iron fire balconies at the
second-story windows are a picturesque feature. The entrance porch, one
of the few of consequence in Philadelphia, is characterized by its
chaste simplicity, the fine-scale reeded columns and wrought-iron
balustrade of the marble steps being its chief features. But for the
double doors characteristic of Philadelphia, the doorway itself, of
excellent proportions and having a handsome elliptical fanlight and side
lights with leaded glass, would suggest Salem design.
Within, a great hall extends through the house to a wide cross hall at
the rear, where a broad and handsome staircase with wing flights above a
gallery landing is located. A beautiful Palladian window in the west end
of the house lights this landing and the entire cross hall. Much
excellent woodwork adorns the spacious rooms, but the splendid Adam
mantels with their delicate applied stucco designs were long ago
replaced by less pleasing creations of black marble.
[Illustration: PLATE XL.--Footscraper, Wyck; Old Philadelphia
Footscraper; Footscraper, Third and Spruce Streets; Footscraper,
Dirck-Keyser House, Germantown.]
[Illustration: PLATE XLI.--Footscraper, 320 South Third Street;
Footscraper, South Third Street; Footscraper, Vernon, Germantown;
Footscraper, 239 Pine Street.]
The Highlands was completed in 1796 by Anthony Morris, son of Captain
Samuel Morris, and a friend of Jefferson, Monroe and Madison, and was
some two years in the building. Morris was admitted to the bar in 1787
and soon went into politics, later engaging extensively in the East
India trade. Representing the city of Philadelphia in the State
Senate, he was in 1793, at the age of twenty-seven, elected speaker,
succeeding Samuel Powel. In this capacity he signed a bill providing for
troops to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, for which act he was disowned
by the Friends' Meeting of which he was a member. Dolly Madison makes
friendly references to Morris in her memoirs and letters, and for nearly
two years during Madison's administration Morris represented the United
States at the Court of Spain. Through his efforts an adjustment was
effected in the boundary dispute over the Florida cession.
In 1808 Morris sold The Highlands to one Hitner, who conveyed it in 1813
to George Sheaff, in whose family it has since remained.
Nothing quite like Bartram House is to be found anywhere in America.
Situated on the Schuylkill River at Kingsessing, West Philadelphia, just
to the south of what was once the lower or Gray's Ferry, this curious
structure was begun in 1730, and the main part of it was completed the
following year, as indicated by a stone in one of the gables bearing the
inscription in Greek, "May God save", followed in English by "John and
Ann Bartram, 1731." Successive additions and alterations have changed
the inside arrangement more than the exterior appearance, and it can
hardly be said that the house now has any particular floor plan.
Probably the latest important changes were made when a stone bearing
the following inscription was placed over the study window:
It is God above almyty Lord
The holy One by me ador'd.
John Bartram, 1770.
In outward appearance Bartram House is a simple gable-roof structure two
and a half stories in height, of large, roughly hewn stones with east
and west fronts and three dormers lighting the attic. The east or
entrance front has a characteristic trellis-shaded doorway with quaint
Dutch seats at each side, while the west front has an odd, recessed
porch between rude Ionic columns of native stone, the same as the walls
and built up like them. Crudely chiseled, elaborately ornamental window
casings, lintels and sills form a curious feature of this facade.
Clothed as it is with clinging ivy and climbing roses, the house
suggests an effect of both stateliness and rusticity.
Bartram was a farmer, but his interest in plants, shrubs and trees was
such that he became one of the greatest botanists of his day. In autumn,
when his farm labors were finished for the year, he journeyed
extensively about the colonies, gathering specimens with which to
beautify his grounds. His greatest enjoyment in life was to make his
collection of rare species ever more complete, and his remarkable
accomplishments in this direction, despite many handicaps, entitle him
to be known as the father of American botanists. After Bartram's death
his son William, also an eminent botanist, carried on the work, and
later his son-in-law, Colonel Carr, did likewise until the place became
one of the most interesting botanical gardens in the country. In 1851
the estate was purchased by Andrew Eastwick, a railway builder just
returned from an extended commission in Russia, who erected a large
residence in another part of the grounds. In 1893 the city bought
Bartram House and its immediate grounds and in 1897 acquired the balance
of the estate, the whole being converted into a public park and the old
house being furnished and put in excellent condition by the descendants
of the Bartram family.
Undoubtedly the most notable instance of the use of "brick" stone with
the so-called Colonial or "barn" pointing is the Johnson house at Number
6306 Germantown Avenue, Germantown. Typical of the first homes that
lined the street of this historic old town for nearly two miles, it is
solidly built of dark native ledge stone, the front being of dressed
rectangular blocks considerably smaller, somewhat rougher and hence less
formal than the surfaced blocks of Cliveden, for example. It is a single
gable-roofed structure two and a half stories high with ranging windows
throughout, a large chimney at each end and two dormers in the front
between them. Like many others of the time it had a small penthouse roof
at the second-floor level which, with the overhanging eaves of the roof
above, afforded protection from rainy weather for the joints of the
stonework which was at first laid up in clay. Lime for making more
permanent mortar was far from plentiful for many years after America was
first settled, and numerous makeshifts had to be resorted to unless the
builder could afford to import lime from England at great expense. Over
the doorway, with its simple flanking seats, there is the familiar
pedimental and slightly projecting hood, while the door itself is of the
quaint divided type, permitting the upper half to be opened while the
lower half is closed. On the first floor the windows have nine-paned
sashes, both upper and lower, together with nicely paneled shutters,
while on the second floor the upper sashes are foreshortened to six
panes, and there are neither shutters nor blinds.
This excellent example of the Pennsylvania farmhouse type was built by
Dirck Jansen, one of the original settlers of Germantown, for his son
John Johnson at the time of his marriage to Rachael Livezey. The work
was begun in 1765 and completed in 1768, as indicated by a date stone in
the peak of one of the gables. It was one of the largest and most
substantial residences in the town and for that reason gave much concern
to the Society of Friends of which the Johnsons were members. During
the Battle of Germantown it was in the thick of the fight, and following
the warning of an officer John Johnson and his entire family took refuge
in the cellar. Bullet holes through three doors are still visible, also
the damage done to the northwest wall by a cannon ball. The backyard
fence, riddled with bullets, was removed in 1906 to the Museum of the
Site and Relic Society at Vernon.
Since the death of John Johnson in 1805, the house has passed through
many hands, all descendants of the builder, however. During the Civil
War it became a station of the "underground railway" for conducting
fugitive slaves to Canada, and Mrs. Josiah Reeve, a
great-great-granddaughter of the builder, used to tell how, when a
child, she often wondered why so many colored people lived in the attic,
staying only a day or so, when others would appear.
Generally similar to the Johnson house is the old Green Tree Inn, Number
6019 Germantown Avenue, Germantown, erected in 1748. Its principal
distinctions lie in the three small, plain dormers with segmental topped
windows; the coved cornice; the elliptical carving in the pediment of
the hood over the door; the enriched ovolo molding of the penthouse
roof, consisting of a ball and disk in alternation, and the arched
openings of the basement windows.
In this building on December 6, 1759, then the home of Daniel
Mackinett, the public school of Germantown, the Germantown Academy, was
organized, its building being erected the following year. In
Revolutionary times this old house was known as "Widow Mackinett's
Tavern", and it was a famous resort for driving parties from the city.
Many persons of note were entertained at the Green Tree Inn, and when La
Fayette visited Germantown in 1825 it was the intention to tender him a
dinner there. It was concluded, however, that the tavern could not
accommodate the party, and a breakfast at Cliveden was given instead, to
which reference has already been made.
The old Billmeyer house, also on Germantown Avenue, Germantown,
interests the student of architecture primarily as a rare instance of
the early Germantown two-family house. Apart from its two front entrance
doorways and the absence of a hood in the penthouse roof, it is much
like the Johnson house in general arrangement. The "brick" stones are
larger and less pleasing, however, and the high elevation of the
structure is evidently due to a subsequent change in the grade of the
street. This, however, has given opportunity for a quaint double flight
of wing steps with simple wrought-iron balustrades in the characteristic
Philadelphia manner. The seats, back to back, one for each doorway,
recall those of the Johnson house. One notices with admiration the
beautifully detailed pedimental dormers with their round-topped
windows, and with interest the unusual use of shutters on both the first
and second stories. Both upper and lower sashes on the first floor are
twelve-paned, as are also the upper sashes on the second floor, the
foreshortening of these upper windows being accomplished by means of
eight-paned lower sashes.
[Illustration: PLATE XLII.--Iron Stair Rail and Footscraper, South
Seventh Street (section); Iron Stair Rail and Footscraper, South Fourth
Street (section); Iron Stair Rail and Footscraper, Seventh and Locust
Streets (section); Iron Stair Rail and Footscraper, Seventh and Locust
Streets (section).]
[Illustration: PLATE XLIII.--Detail of Window and Shutters, Morris
House.]
Erected in 1727 as a single dwelling, this house was occupied during the
battle by the widow Deshler and her family. At that time there was no
building of any sort between the Billmeyer and Chew houses. It was in
front of this house that Washington stopped in his march down Germantown
Avenue on October 4, 1777, having discovered that the Chew house was
occupied by the British. There he conferred with his officers, ordered
the attack and directed the battle. The tradition is that Washington
stood on a horse block, telescope in hand, trying in vain to penetrate
the smoke and fog and discover the force of the enemy intrenched within
the Chew mansion. The stone cap of the horse block is still preserved,
and the telescope is in the possession of Germantown Academy. The house
suffered greatly at the hands of the British soldiers who were quartered
there, and its woodwork still bears the marks of bullets and attempts to
set it on fire. In 1789 it became the home of Michael Billmeyer, a
celebrated German printer who carried on his trade there.
Homes such as the Johnson and Billmeyer houses and numerous similar
ones, two and a half stories high with gable roofs, dormer windows and a
penthouse roof at the second-floor level, are characteristic examples of
the best Pennsylvania farmhouse type which architects of the present day
are perpetuating to a considerable extent. Whether of dressed local or
ledge stone, they are distinct from anything else anywhere that comes
within the Colonial category. In their design and construction sincerity
of purpose is manifest; their sturdy simplicity and frank practicability
give them a rare charm which appeals strongly to all lovers of the
Colonial style in architecture.