The Philip Rogers House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [1]
Description
The Philip Rogers House (also known as Penn Wick), built in the mid-eighteenth century, of tan random fieldstone with darker red corner quoins, is two-and-one-half stories high, five bays wide, and two bays deep. It is covered, by a gable roof with a chimney at each gable end.
The south (front) and north elevations have nine-on-six light windows on both the first and second floors. These are modern replacements for original windows of the same type. The first floor windows on the south elevation have the original panelled exterior shutters. At the center of the south elevation is a one-story wooden entrance portico which is not original. It consists of a flat, semi-circular roof, which is topped by a balustrade and supported by four Doric columns. According to an 1865 newspaper advertisement, the south elevation featured a porch along the entire front. The box cornices along the south and north elevation with partial returns on the east and west gable ends are not original.
The west elevation has a door and one six-on-six light window with louvered exterior shutters at the basement level. There are two nine-on-six light windows on both the first and second floors. These are modern replacements for original windows of the same type. At the attic level, there are two-light windows, modern replacements for the original four light windows. A pent eave, now gone, once crossed the west gable end between the second and attic levels.
A two and one-half story random fieldstone kitchen wing was added to the east gable end of the house, probably sometime before 1825. It has a box cornice on the north and south elevations and partial returns on the east gable end. Originally there was a pent eave on its front (south) elevation. The east elevation of the wing is largely a blank chimney wall with only two two-light windows at the attic level. The north elevation has one six-on-six light window on the first floor. Both the original house and the kitchen addition have a coating of stucco on the north elevation, as opposed to the exposed fieldstone on the other three elevations.
On the interior, the house follows the center hall plan at the basement, first, second, and attic levels. On the first and second floors, the hall is flanked by two rooms on either side. The partition wall separating the two eastern rooms on the first floor has since been removed. The interior woodwork is very fine and largely original. The open stairway at the rear of the center hall has round-turned balusters, Philadelphia newel posts, and wainscot panelling which follows the stairway up to the second floor. The panelling surrounding the fireplaces is entirely original. The stonework of the fireplaces, like that of the house's exterior, has been repointed. Particularly notable is an original built-in cupboard, which includes butterfly shelves and blown glass panes. The flooring is largely original, with the exception of that in the first floor hallway.
The present owners have made few changes, mainly restorative. They have removed exposed plumbing and wallpaper, replaced missing chair railways, and replaced some windows with nine-on-six light windows of the type originally in the house.
Significance
Philip Rogers probably built the original random fieldstone house in the mid-eighteenth century. He became the first recorded owner in 1735 and retained the property until 1757. There is a 1739 datestone on the house's West elevation, but it appears to have been added at a later date. One of the earliest settlers in the area, Rogers was on the first list of taxables for East Nantmeal Township in 1722. The house is now in Warwick Township which was formed by the division of East Nantmeal in 1842.
Representative of a characteristic area house type, the Philip Rogers house is valuable due to its early date, its well-documented history, and its retention of much of its early appearance through more than two centuries of existence.
REFERENCES
Atlas of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Safe Harbor, Pa.: A.R. Witmer, 1873.
Breou's Original Series of Farm Maps: Chester County, Pa. Philadelphia: W.H. Kirk and Co., 1883.
Chester County Court House. Deed Books: A, v. 7, p. 512; Q, p. 285; B3, p. 242; E6, 347; Y6, p. 178; S9, p. 441; D7, p. 263; A11, p. 367; A15, p. 275; P36, p. 359. Will Book: 16, p. 32.
Chester County Historical Society. Miscellaneous papers. Warwick Township, Chester County
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Ridge Road • Route 23