Source Information

Hotchkin, Samuel F. Rural Pennsylvania in the Vicinity of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Geo. W. Jacobs, 1897., p. 79, 97

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Project Information from this Source

Project name: Burgess Residence, "Pennhurst"

Client name: Burgess, Hugh

Project types: dwelling

Cited Architects, Engineers, and Others

There are no architects, engineers, or others linked to this record.

Location

Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, PA

Comments

"The gate-house runs back to Peter Penn-Gaskill's day. It is of stone, rough-cast, and is said to have been used in conducting the Church of England service. The rolling lawn here is extensive, and allowed to retain its natural beauty. A chestnut tree, over a hundred years old, covered with English ivy, stands at the entrance of a grove. This chestnut grove is one of the picturesque points of the place. The mansion is built of brick, in Elizabethan style, with square-topped windows, and pointed gables, and a double bay-window. The ivy upon it is a cheerful adornment. 'The white house' is an interesting relic, being the servants' quarters in Penn-Gaskill times, and in the style of the main house. The brick stable is tasteful, and the ancient hedge dividing the garden into squares is supposed to be about a hundred years old. The large barn, chicken-house, and incubators are tokens of a well-conducted farm. Hugh Burgess, inventor and manufacturer of wood-pulp paper, preceded the Hopper family as the owner of Pennhurst. He was an Englishman. He demolished the Penn-Gaskill house, and built the present residence."

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