New Garden Historical Commission - Roe-Owens House

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#990099" lang=EN-US> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#999999"> <tr> <td><p align="center"><img src="../../lyceum/lyceum.jpg" width="200" height="114"></p> </td> <td align="center"> <h1><font color=black>New Garden Historical Commission</font></h1> <p><a href="../../index.htm" target="_top"><font color=black>Click here</font></a> <font color=black> to return to the home page and links to other articles</font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:200%;color:black'>The Roe-Owens House</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>323 Buttonwood Road</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Landenberg vicinity</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>New Garden Township</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Chester County, Pennsylvania</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=407 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image001.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>April 16, 2004</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Jeroen van den Hurk</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>Center for Historic Architecture and Design</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>University of Delaware</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i>Margaret Jones</i></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i>New Garden Historical Commission</i></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>Located on the south side of Buttonwood Road the <span style='color:black'>Roe-Owens </span>House sits at the end of a long driveway halfway down the hillside. The house faces south and overlooks the valley of the Broad Run Creek. Like many of the houses in New Garden Township, it evolved over time to accommodate the new wishes and desires of its owners. The Roe-Owens House consists of at least four major periods of construction with a two-story twentieth century addition added by the current owners to increase the floor space of the dwelling. A hyphen sympathetically connects the oldest part of the house to the new section. The oldest section of the house is one of the few surviving log buildings in the township and possibly the oldest.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=406 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image002.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>Detail of the east gable end with interior chimneystack with painted date of “1710”</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image003.jpg"></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View looking south from the house showing springhouse</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=575 height=744 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image004.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Architectural drawing showing five construction periods of the house</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>(twentieth century eastern wing not shown)</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><i><span style='color:black'>In 1713, Abraham Marshall of Bradford Township paid 40 pounds for a 200 acre tract of land, which he purchased from William Penn, Jr. This land "bounded by 800 acres, surveyed to John Miller for his friends he expected from Ireland," was located in the southern tip of what was to become New Garden Township. Apparently, Abraham Marshall purchased the tract as an investment, for in 1724, he sold it, still undeveloped, to William Roe of New Garden. <br> <br> William Roe's log house may be the log house we see today or perhaps he replaced his first log house with yet another log house. Whichever the case, at the end of his life in 1775, he bequeathed to his daughter, Jane Monigal, "...all the rent and profits of this plantation I now live upon," so we know he left a dwelling. <br> <br> William Roe's inventory is short, suggesting the log house was small and modestly furnished. It contained a desk, a case of drawers, an oval walnut table, one bedstead and three feather beds, an arm chair, a dough box, a spinning wheel, three pewter dishes, twelve plates and four pewter basins, a brass kettle and an iron pot.<br> <br> </span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><b>Period I</b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=397 height=651 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image005.gif"></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The log section of the Roe-Owens House is the oldest extant part of the house. It consists of a two-story dwelling on a full cellar with an interior gable end chimney on the east side of the house. The builder left the logs rounded on the exterior, which is typical for very plain and basic log structures. Due to the small size of both fireplaces in the period I section of the dwelling, it is likely that an earlier kitchen wing disappeared over time. The period I section contains a two-room plan with back-to-back corner fireplaces. The southern room is the larger of the two rooms—measuring 14’4” by 16’8”—and functioned as the ceremonial front room. It has the larger corner fireplace in the northeast corner of the room. A door, with slightly splayed jambs in the south wall leads to the outside. The room receives light from three windows, one in each of the exterior walls. A winder stair along the west gable wall of the east room leads to the second floor. Underneath the stair leading up is a winder stair leading down to the cellar. A partition wall separates the southern room from the northern room. This heated back chamber is 10” by 16’8” and receives light from three windows, one in the west gable wall, one in the north wall and one in the east gable wall. The corner fireplace in the southeast corner of the room provides heat. A door in the north wall leads to the outside.</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=667 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image006.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View of west gable end log wall with chinking and period II stair leading to attic</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image007.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View of corner fire place in the south room.</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image008.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View of corner fire place in the north room</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt; line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'>The second floor of the period I section mirrors the two-room plan of the first floor. Board partition walls divided the two rooms. It is unclear if either room had a heat source. Three windows pierce the walls of the northern of the two rooms, one in the north elevation, one in the east gable wall and one in the west gable wall. The southern room receives light from four windows, one in each gable wall, and two in the south wall. The winder stair against the west gable wall, in the southern room, continues up to the attic. </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=426 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image009.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View of second floor board partition wall on stair landing (looking north)</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>Tongue and groove floorboards cover the attic floor. The builders used cut nails to nail the floorboards to the joists, which could date to a later period replacement of the floorboards. The pegged rafters are marked with Roman numerals. Both the floors and the rafters could date to a later period.</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image010.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>Detail of tongue and groove boards and nail in attic floor</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>A narrow winder stair against the west gable wall of the southern room—on the first floor—lead to the cellar. Partially hewn—and whitewashed—joists support the first floor. Evidence indicates the use of battens underneath the floorboards of the first floor. A few remain in the southwest corner of the cellar, but the notches let in to the joists are clearly visible throughout the cellar. The whitewashed cellar walls are laid up in fieldstone. There is evidence of hand-headed cut nails in the cellar. An original wooden grill window survives in the west gable wall.</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image011.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>Detail of original window opening in west gable end wall</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=840 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image012.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>Detail of a window on the period I south elevation</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt; line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><b>Period II</b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=441 height=709 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image013.gif"></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The only change that occurred during period II on the first floor was the removal of the original winder stair. The owners replaced it with a straight flight of stairs in the same location. Undoubtedly, the straight flight of stair was more accommodating to get to and from each floor. It is likely that the owners reused some of the materials that became available with the removal of the original stair.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The second floor underwent more substantial changes during period II. The new layout contains a three-room plan with a stair landing. Board partition walls divide the three rooms. A small and unheated room is located at the top of the stair along the north wall. A small window piercing the north wall of this room provides light. The stair landing runs north to south and receives light from a window in the south wall. There are two equally sized rooms off the east side of the stair landing. Both rooms appear to be unheated. The northern of the two rooms receives light from a single window in the east gable wall, whereas the southern room receives light from a window in the east gable wall as well as by a window in the south wall.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span class=quoted11><i><span style='color:windowtext'>From William Roe's death until 1810, when Jesse Owens purchased the farm, it </span></i></span><i>passed through four owners, the acreage being gradually reduced to 72 acres. Tax records suggest Owens added an addition to his house about 1817. In that year, his tax record is for a log and frame house. The assessment increased from $170 in 1816 to $250 in 1817, and maintained this approximate level until 1830, when there was another large increase for "buildings." A comparison with other tax assessments for this period shows that inflation was not a factor in this. In 1820, the census taker recorded fifteen persons in the Owens household, which was reason enough to enlarge the log house.<br> <br> When Jesse Owens died in 1839, his inventory listed two beds and bedding downstairs, which suggests at least one of the rooms in the frame addition was being used as a bedroom. The inventory listed two other beds as "straw beds and covers." Other possessions included a wooden clock, ten old chairs and one arm chair, two looking glasses, as well as tables, a chest and mantle ornaments. There is no mention of books in the inventory. </i></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><b>Period III</b></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=576 height=591 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image014.gif"></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The period III addition consists of a two-story frame addition built against the west gable end. Due to later renovations, it is hard to determine its plan, but it most likely also contained a two-room plan. The period III section is one step down from the period I block. An unusual aspect of the addition is that the corner posts protrude approximately two inches into the living spaces in all four corners. The southern room is the larger of the two rooms—measuring 16’2” by 11’8”—and receives light from two windows, one in the west gable wall and one in the south wall. A door leading onto the porch running along the south elevation of both the period I and III sections flanks the window in the south wall to the left. By converting the original window in the west gable end of the period I section into a doorway the two parts of the house connect. The doorway connecting the two southern rooms has slightly splayed jambs. The northern room is the smaller of the two—measuring 8’8” by 11’8”. Two windows pierce its exterior walls, one in the north wall and one in the west gable wall. A narrow doorway—measuring only 2 feet wide—connects the northern room of the period III addition to the period I back chamber.</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=733 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image015.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>Detail of protruding corner post in southwest corner</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>(occurs in all four corners of period III addition)</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The only way to reach the second floor of the period III addition is via the period I stair. The second floor of the period III addition contains a two-room plan. Both second floor rooms open onto the period I stair landing, one at the north end of the stair and one at the south end of the stair. Two windows pierce the exterior walls of the southern room mirroring the first floor configuration. The northern room receives its light from a single window in the west gable wall.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The period I attic is the only point of connection to the period III addition. Originally, the cellar underneath the period III addition was no more than a crawl space. The current owners have only recently excavated this section of the cellar thereby giving access to the floor joists. The carpenter tenoned the regular sawn joists into the sill.</p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><b>Period IV</b></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'> </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>The final addition to the original section of the dwelling consisted of a one-story frame section against the north elevation of the period I and III blocks. Originally divided into two sections, the western section of the addition functioned as a coal bin. The eastern section provided additional work or storage space and connected to the period I block via the original door in the north elevation.</p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=500 height=375 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image016.jpg"></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:200%'>View of period I east gable end and north elevation showing period IV shed addition</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt; line-height:200%'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><i><span style='color:black'>This farm continued to shrink in size, with only 40 acres remaining in 1855. A hundred years and ten owners later, it consisted of only 30 acres when Newlin and Margaret McCann purchased it in 1955.</span></i></p> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:200%'><img width=576 height=743 src="McCannHouse052305_files/image017.gif"></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'>At some point in time, the owners removed the partition walls on the first floor in the period I and III sections, creating two continuous rooms. A final alteration included the renovation of the coal bin in the period IV addition, turning it into an extra room and adding a closet and a bathroom. Double folding doors connect this new room to the period III section of the house, which is one step down. </p> </div> </body>