Chapter 7 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 87irregular 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 fa?ade 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.88 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 fa?ade 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 fa?ade projects slightly under a pediment in harmony with the splendid Doric doorway beneath, of which more elsewhere.

Plate XXXVIII.-Detail of Iron Balustrade, 216 South Ninth Street; Stoop with Wing Flights, 207 La Grange Alley.

Cliveden was erected in 1761 by Benjamin Chew, a friend of Washington and a descendant of one of89 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.

Plate XXXIX.-Iron Newel, Fourth and Liberty Streets; Iron Newel, 1107 Walnut Street.

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 the90 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.91 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 fa?ade 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 sashes92 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.

Plate XL.-Footscraper, Wyck; Old Philadelphia Footscraper;

Footscraper, Third and Spruce Streets; Footscraper,

Dirck-Keyser House, Germantown.

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,93 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.

Plate XLI.-Footscraper, 320 South Third Street; Footscraper,

South Third Street; Footscraper, Vernon, Germantown;

Footscraper, 239 Pine Street.

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 when94 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 fa?ade. 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,95 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 front96 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.97 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 the98 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.

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).

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 detailed99 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.

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. 100

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.101