Saturday Spotlight-- Circa 1893 Brick Folk Victorian in Harleysville

This week's Saturday Spotlight house is a brick Folk Victorian home right on Main Street in Harleysville, PA.

Image courtesy of real estate listing by Connie Hunsberger, BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors

Folk Victorian homes are characterized by classic and simple home forms, adding Victorian detailing and spindlework, often with a front porch. They are distinguished from those homes commonly labeled as Victorian or Queen Anne since they take on traditional and vernacular shapes and forms. With the spread of railroad systems throughout the country by the mid-to-late 19th century, woodworking machinery was more widely used, allowing the decorative trim and wood detailing popular at the time more easily available for homeowners.

This example is approximately 2,400 square feet and was originally constructed with a two-story L-shaped plan which presents as a five-ranked, side-gabled facade on Main Street. The overall form resembles that of a Georgian Revival style but is detailed quite differently. The Victorian gingerbread porch with its turned posts are the main feature, and the blue-painted raised panel wood shutters originally provided desired privacy at the first floor. The windows throughout are placed in shallow brick arched openings, with the top header exhibiting additional Victorian ornamental detail. An approximately 200-square foot wood-framed addition was constructed at some point to fill in the L-shape on the first floor in the rear, with more turned posts continuing the character of the original home.

Image courtesy of real estate listing by Connie Hunsberger, BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors

Origins

Early ownership history has been difficult to nail down immediately, as 1900-1930 census records did not help me out with addresses of those residents enumerated. However, county records estimate that the home was constructed in 1893. As this brief history of the nearby and well-known Harleysville Hotel describes, Sumneytown Pike (Main St Harleysville on this stretch) was constructed in 1735, and vastly improved road conditions performed in 1848 allowed Main Street to flourish with the construction of new homes and businesses, including a general store, small clothing factory, and a feed store in addition to the Hotel.

By the time this home was constructed, the town had a population of a few hundred people. The 1893 estimated construction date appears to be accurate to within a few years based on examination of early atlas maps. The home appears to have been built on land formerly owned by Henry C. Delp, who was listed in the 1880 census as a farmer, but in 1900 as a "market man", perhaps having established a store along the main road. The census records from Harleysville, by the way, read like a list of surnames from my high school (I grew up in Harleysville)-- Gottshall, Kulp, Ziegler, Clemens, Moyer.

By the way, there also exists a wood-frame barn at the rear edge of the property, built supposedly around 1890 even before the house. Although this is just speculation not based on records, it is possible that this barn could date back to the property being owned by the Delp family.

Image courtesy of real estate listing by Connie Hunsberger, BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors

1970s to Present

This brick home has changed stewardship three times in the last 40 years, having been sold in 1976, then just a few years later in 1983, and most recently in 2002. It is currently on the market, looking for its newest caretakers. The interior rooms of the one-story wood frame addition have the exposed brick of the original exterior at this part of the house, which gives the inside of the home a nice nod to its history.

Image courtesy of real estate listing by Connie Hunsberger, BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors

Image courtesy of real estate listing by Connie Hunsberger, BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors

Read More »

A Walk Through the Ardsley Neighborhood (Ferguson's North Glenside)

Examining the history, growth, and architecture of your home's neighborhood can tell you quite a bit about its own history by providing context, both physical and temporal. We've now been through two posts regarding the subdivision in which my house was built, Ferguson's North Glenside. The first post explained the process of discovering the subdivision's name through historical map exploration. The second post gave a brief history of Reginald T. Ferguson's creation of the subdivision by splitting two larger tracts of land, including that of Emma Spear. Here, we venture off into the residential neighborhood, which gained its name Ardsley in its early days. I'll examine briefly the variety of residential architecture, spanning from the 1920's through present-day. I'll also point out the neighborhood landmarks which provide amenities to residents.

View down the 600 block of Central Ave, with varying home styles. From Left to Right: 1920's Bungalow, 1960's Garrison Colonial, 1920's Bungalow, 1920's Bungalow, 1950's brick Cape Cod variant.

Ardsley vs North Hills

While this greater area of Glenside, including land south and west of that divided by Ferguson, at one point fell under the category of "North Glenside", that name no longer exists today. Ardsley I've already described historically, and lies largely east of Jenkintown Road and even extends slightly into Upper Dublin Township. Present-day North Hills, which includes areas which used to be known as Edge Hill and Remlu, respectively, comprises the western half of the area, roughly along Limekiln Pike, and again extending into Upper Dublin. It was subdivided earlier than Ardsley, and thus its concentration of homes is on the whole a few decades older, with many homes from 1900-1930. Although my house is technically within the subdivision which became Ardsley, you can see that it is right at the western edge of the former Emma Spear land, and with its 1920's construction and location west of Jenkintown Road, my property more associates with North Hills in today's geography.

You've seen this clip from a 1916 map in previous posts, showing location of my house at the western edge of the Emma A. Spear tract. Base map courtesy of Franklin Maps.

Ardsley and North Hills could be considered sister communities, as they blend seamlessly into one another and even share a youth sports organization called Ardsley-North Hills Athletic Association. Although the Upper Dublin portion of North Hills is more lower-middle class these days, Ardsley-North Hills as a whole is solidly middle class, with lot sizes of roughly one acre and modest single-family homes efficiently filling the streetscape.

Residential Architecture of Ardsley

As described previously, Ferguson did not act as a builder or developer with his subdivision, but rather as a land speculator profiting off the sale of individual lots. Thus, individuals built up the neighborhood over time, resulting in an eclectic mix of 20th century home styles. This differs from the classic portrayal of the American suburban subdivision, where developers built homes all in one fell swoop prior to selling the homes to individuals (typical of many post-WW2 developments).

Take a look at these photos from my neighborhood walk and you'll see a wide range of residential architecture: split-level, Craftsman bungalow, Cape Cod, ranch, Dutch Colonial, and other Colonial Revival subtypes. Today, nearly 1,200 houses exist in the various Ferguson North Glenside subdivisions, almost all of which are single-family homes. A few twin homes are sprinkled in, with no 3+ family buildings. The pattern of development here mirrors closely that of American suburban development as a phenomenon, with a larger-scale demand for new housing after WWII.

With the subdivisions established around 1920, roughly 120 or so houses were quickly constructed by various owners, filling in roughly 10-12% of the vacant lots. These houses were to a large extent built close to the main arterial of Jenkintown Road. During this time period, we see the architecture of the time in bungalows, Craftsmans, and Colonial Revivals.

This c. 1923 Craftsman Bungalow on Meyer Ave is one of few in the neighborhood with wood shingle siding appropriate for the time period. It looks great!

This c. 1920 Craftsman Bungalow on Tennis Ave recently replaced the inappropriate vinyl siding. Although I would have liked to see wood or fiber cement siding as well as the brick kept exposed on the chimney, I have to admit the stucco job on this house was pretty well done.

Circa 1930 Dutch Colonial at the corner of Jenkintown Rd and Jackson Ave.

On Maple Ave, a c. 1923 Colonial Revival with Dutch gambrel roof on left, next to a c. 1930 Bungalow on the right.

The Great Depression did slow development in the burgeoning suburb in the 1930's, but still about 60-70 homes were built in Ardsley, typically of the similar style varieties seen in the 1920's. The 1940's saw a similar rate of development as the 1920's, starting to mix in the popular Cape Cod style.

Circa 1948 Cape Cod home on Spear Ave.

A Cape Cod variant with front cross gable from circa 1945, at the corner of Maple Ave and Woodrow Ave.

Then, the real boom came. Although the gradual filling in of all these lots resulted in an eclectic mix of houses, roughly 55% of the current housing stock in the Ferguson subdivisions was built in the 1950's. Thus, there exists today a large number of split-levels, ranchers, and Cape Cod homes which were popular after the second World War. More than 90% of the residential lots were occupied by homes by the end of the 1960's.

On the 900 block of Cricket Ave, from Left to Right: c. 1955 Split-Level, c. 1958 Split-Level, c. 1955 Ranch. These split levels, with the distinctive roof eave projecting out at an angle, popped up all over the subdivision in the late 1950's and early 1960's. It is possible that the same builder spent several years building the same style house here.

Looking east down Meyer Ave towards Maple Ave, from Left to Right: one-half visible of a c. 1955 brick Ranch, c. 1956 Cape Cod, c. 1955 Ranch, and two c. 1961 Split-Levels before the intersection. Even though Meyer Ave deviates from the standard grid of the remainder of Ardsley (due to Sandy Run Creek), the houses are still oriented in the same direction as the other houses in the area, creating a diagonal arrangement with the street line.

C. 1955 Cape Cod on Spear Ave, directly across the street from the Community Center.

A few buildable lots do remain, with many of them incorporated into neighboring lots as side or backyards. Ryan Circle was created as a brand new cul de sac off of Meyer Ave in 1997, with 8 new two-story Colonial Revival houses. There also have been about a dozen new homes built since 2000.

Neighborhood Amenities

Not all of Ardsley is residential lots. For reasons not clear at this time, Reginald Ferguson did not continue Central Ave or Cricket Ave all the way to present-day Meyer Ave as he did with Tennis, Garfield, and Penn. Perhaps there had already been discussions of turning this area into a park or some other use. However this did not actually come to fruition officially until Abington Township purchased the land in 1935, nearly 15 years after the Spear tract was split. Ardsley Park came to be and remains today as an amenity with basketball and tennis courts, playing fields, and a playground.

The entrance to Ardsley Park, from the corner of Maple Ave and Jefferson Ave.

Across Maple Avenue rom the park, the entrance to the Ardsley Wildlife Sanctuary sits as undeveloped land essentially contiguous with neighboring Hillside Cemetery.

Entrance to Ardsley Wildlife Sanctuary, at corner of Maple Ave and Jefferson Ave.

What is today the community hub of the Ardsley Community Center, was originally the Ardsley Elementary School at about the midpoint of the former Spear land, on Spear Ave. It switched over to a community center in 1978 and today houses a daycare facility, acts as a meeting place for community and youth groups, and conducts educational programs. The fields out back also are the location for a number of community events.

Ardsley Community Center, formerly the Ardsley Elementary School, on Spear Ave.

And lastly, a significant stretch of Jenkintown Road, extending from Maple Avenue down to Tyson Avenue past the train station, exists as a commercial corridor. A number of staple businesses, including Joe's Meat Market and Little Rizzo's Pizza, are run along this stretch and several are even in structures originally built as single-family homes.

Joe's Meat and Grocery Market on Jenkintown Road.

Van's Lock Shop, Ardsley Cleaners, and Little Rizzo's Pizza on Jenkintown Road.

Ardsley Bible Chapel at the corner of Harrison Ave and Jenkintown Road.

Relating Neighborhood History to House History

Putting this in the context of my own home's construction at the western edge of the subdivision in the mid-1920's, there were only a few houses surrounding it for a few decades. As I've described previously, my neighbor relayed a story of long-time owner of my house Mrs Catherine Cantlin having been able to see the Ardsley train station 1/2 mile down Jenkintown Road. Although streets were laid out by Reginald Ferguson's subdivisions, roads were not immediately paved until the critical mass of home justified the expense by the township. The municipal sewer system was not constructed until the 1940's. All of these set a picture of the house in these early decades, one quite different than the dense, fully developed surroundings it enjoys today.

Read More »

The Origins of Ferguson's North Glenside

In one of the blog's early posts, I explained the process of discovering the subdivision of land on which my house currently sits-- Ferguson's North Glenside. It constitutes what is today known as the neighborhood of Ardsley. Today we will take a look at the origins of the subdivision, which occurred in three successive phases around 1920.

On October 5, 1917, in the later years of her life, Emma L. Spear officially conveyed, to Reginald T. Ferguson, the 217-acre farmland tract which had been owned by her family for the last 50+ years. Reginald Ferguson, born in 1869, was a native Philadelphian, who by this time had become a very successful jeweler in the city. He and his wife, Katherine, had no children, and by all indications Reginald was an astute businessman. Setting his sights on land speculation in the burgeoning suburb of Glenside, he acquired the Spear tract, as well as the neighboring 68-acre land of the late William Unruh shortly thereafter.

Clip of a 1916 map of the Spear and Zoller (formerly Unruh) tracts of land acquired by Reginald T. Ferguson a few years later. Location of my house circle. Base map courtesy of Franklin Maps.

The Spear land stretched from roughly 480 feet southwest of the main artery Jenkintown Rd, all the way to Susquehanna Rd near present-day Roslyn. It was bounded on the west by the border between Abington and Upper Dublin Townships, and on the east by the estate of F.W. Zoller (formerly held by long-time owner William Unruh) as well as by the grounds of the Hillside Cemetery. The 68-acre Unruh tract later expanded the subdivision east to present-day Jackson Ave at the edge of the Ardsley Burial Cemetery. This tract extends half the length of the Spear tract, from Jenkintown Rd to about 400 feet northeast of present-day Spear Ave.

Overlay of Ferguson subdivisions over a current aerial map.

Surveys commissioned by Ferguson after acquiring this land from the former landowners officially subdivided the land into individual home-sized lots, which Ferguson largely sold off with a few exceptions, starting with about 3/4 of the Spear tract, followed shortly thereafter by the Unruh property. The remainder of the former Spear land was less desirable and more difficult to subdivide, due to the Sandy Run creek running through a portion of it. However, the apparent success of the first two splits led Ferguson to divide this remaining Spear land in 1921, with a 10-1/2 acre portion of this area sold to Abington Township in 1935 to became Ardsley Park. 

Ferguson's North Glenside subdivisions also established the street grid we see today. Emma Spear's name survives physically in the form of the NW-SE oriented Spear Ave which roughly bisects her former land. While Ferguson continued the existing street names of Maple Ave, Cricket Ave, Central Ave, Tennis Ave, and Penn Ave from the neighborhood to the southwest (originally labeled Avenues "A" through "E") in the SW-NE direction, he applied the names of former U.S. Presidents to all of the new streets he created: Garfield Ave, Madison Ave, Cleveland Ave, Jefferson Ave, Lincoln Ave, Adams Ave, Monroe Ave, Harrison Ave, Jackson Ave, and Woodrow Ave (after president at-the-time Woodrow Wilson). A few of these streets were later re-named: Adams Ave was changed to Hamel Ave since it closely aligned with the existing Hamel Ave to the southwest. Cleveland Ave was later renamed Meyer Ave.

Ferguson's North Glenside as it existed in 1937, pieced together from different map sections courtesy of Franklin Maps. In the 17-18 years after subdivision, the area is maybe 15% or so developed.

Since being a jeweler was his true profession, and he was not a land developer or builder, his purpose in creating these subdivisions was to profit on the sale of the individual lots, which he did throughout the early 1920's as the population of Abington Township rapidly expanded. Thus, development did not occur immediately with homogeneous architecture throughout, as with many subdivisions of the post-WWII. Comparatively, the paving of streets, extension of public utilities, and construction of homes occurred gradually over the next few decades. There are many homes in Ardsley which date to the 1940's and 1950's.

Reginald T. Ferguson sold off the individual lots as he could (although it is quite likely he employed some sort of an agent to aid him)-- a future research task of mine will be to determine how long he specifically dealt with the selling of thse lots, and if possible, determine approximately how much he may have profited. He died in 1924, so I will be curious to see if he continued to deal in these properties up until his death, as well as how much of the subdivision remained unsold at that time. He is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd (Montgomery County), however his estate was settled in Bucks County in 1931. The 7-year period it took to settle his estate may mean he died still holding quite a bit of real property to sort out, and/or had numerous debts to settle, either or both of which requiring several years to administer. He may have even dealt in land speculation in other nearby areas-- I will need to search more property records and that estate file to determine more.

In our next non-Saturday Spotlight post, we will take a stroll through Ferguson's North Glenside as it exists today as the Ardsley section of Glenside, examining various homes, their differing architecture over time, and some of the existing landmarks.

Read More »

Fire Decimates 1927 Tudor-Style Clubhouse at LuLu Country Club

Today we lament the sudden loss of a local historic building. Although not a residential house, it was the Tudor-style Clubhouse of the Lulu Country Club, built in 1927 according to the club's website.

Inage courtesy Lulu Country Club

Yesterday morning I was out doing some errands, and driving back towards my home I was greeted by enormous plumes of dark black smoke in the air not too far away. The sight was pretty much the same as this fellow witness saw:

Image via 6ABC Action News viewer

As I drove towards the billowing smoke, I was heartened to see that the source was not on my street. My mind immediately turned to nearby LuLu Country Club less than 1/2 mile away, a place where they occasionally set off fireworks which we can see from our backyard. I recalled having seen large piles of tree limbs and branches gathered near a corner of the property at one point in the recent past, and briefly wondered if they were simply burning said pile. However, as I approached the corner of Jenkintown Rd and North Hills Ave, fire department personnel were diverting traffic away from the area. The intensity of the rising smoke made it clear there was a problem.

Image via 6ABC Action News

See this link to view some more incredible photos of the fire while it was in progress, by photographer Brian Sullivan.

News reports describe that the fire broke out around 6:30am on Sunday morning, likely in the basement, and was discovered by staff members opening the pro shop. The blaze quickly spread to the heavy timber roof and ballroom of the facility. It was a 2-alarm fire, with the first-responding firefighters immediately calling for assistance with the fire well advanced. Fortunately, reports now say that despite early indications of one injury, no one was significantly hurt in the fire. The building, however, appears beyond saving, as the roofs have fully collapsed, leaving the distinctive Tudor-style gables charred in the wake. Surely, dozens of engaged couples are unfortunately scrambling for new venues, members are left unable to use their historic golf course (at least for the time being), and more importantly, staff members are, hopefully temporarily, left without a workplace.

24 hours later, frost covers the grass and the wreckage of the former Lulu Clubhouse. Image by author.

History of the Club and Clubhouse

Officially founded in 1912, Lulu Country Club started as an offshoot of the local Shriners temple. Geographically split in half by Limekiln Pike, the original golf course was a 9-hole course on the eastern side of the Pike, on the farm of George Cox, and designed by one of golf's most celebrated course designers, Donald Ross. The club's original clubhouse existed on this eastern tract, directly across the street from where the present-day clubhouse is today (it no longer exists). By 1918, Lulu had leased the farm of the late Mrs. Charlotte Potter, who had passed in 1912, on the west side of the Pike, again commissioning Ross, this time to complete an 18-hole course. Mrs. Potter was the granddaughter of John Fitzwater, whose farmhouse still sits near the corner of Limeklin Pike and Twining Rd. The Club later purchased Mrs. Potter's land in 1924 to allow them to erect their permanent clubhouse.

Clip from a 1916 atlas map, showing the Lulu Temple Country Club leasing the farmland of George S. Cox for use as "golf grounds". The original clubhouse is seen on the east edge of Limekiln Pike. Base map courtesy of Franklin Maps.

Lulu Country Club as it is known today, shown in a clip from a 1927 atlas map, with the Clubhouse having been just completed. Original clubhouse still seen at that time across the street. Base map courtesy of Franklin Maps.

The Tudor-style Clubhouse was completed three years later, in 1927. Nearby, our house had recently been constructed on Central Ave as part of the Ferguson's North Glenside subdivision just to the southeast. The architect of the Lulu Clubhouse itself was elusive in my initial research, but the Club's website details many additions and renovations over the years, including the members' dining room in 1950, air conditioning and a swimming pool in 1956, a pro shop and enlarged men's locker room in 1964, women's locker room in 1967, and another dining room and entrance in 1987. Various interior renovations have occurred since. Unfortunately, a sprinkler system was never incorporated, nor was one likely required.

Aerial image of the Lulu Country Club, 1939. Image via Golf Association of Philadelphia

More recently, from roughly 2008-2012, the country club faced struggles to stay open as it sought a buyer. The club, in 2009, sold a conservation easement to Upper Dublin Township, the municipality where the course is located, to prevent future development and preserve the land as open space in perpetuity. Lulu eventually found a leasing partner in 2012 and appeared to face a more certain future.

Now, that future must be at least somewhat in doubt. Club members on Sunday morning arrived at their historic golf course in shock as the clubhouse burned. Here's to hoping the Club's insurance policy can make up the loss and eventually get things back up and running with a new clubhouse building. While it's a true shame that an 88-year-old local landmark building has been tragically destroyed, it was nice to see such an uplifting and positive message from the Club posted on their Facebook page hours after the fire:

"We thank you all for your love, prayers and support at this time.

As this picture shows, there is always light and hope. We are and will always be here to serve our membership and our community.

Again, many thanks everybody. We will get through all of this stronger and together.

-The LuLu CC Family"

Image courtesy of Lulu Country Club, Facebook page

UPDATE 10/20:

According to an updated report by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Lulu Country Club is hopeful that they will be able to re-open their historic golf course this weekend to members. Also, two bits of good news for preserving the club's history. First, the fire marshal was able to recover the Club's 103-year-old charter document, which survived the fire! Second, general manager Jeff Orleski has instructed demolition crews to keep a stone wall with the club's name on it, with the intention of incorporating it into a new building. Great move Jeff!

Read More »

Extracting Clues from Property Deeds

After you have gathered a collection of property deeds related to the land on which your subject house sits, you can begin to examine the details of each individual deed for specific clues. If you have found yourself at this article and have not yet gathered any deeds for your house or land, see my article on "chaining the title" of your property here. After this process, you may have a dozen or so deeds, or you may have 1-2, depending on how many times the house and land were sold and how far you choose to go back. Each deed should be studied carefully.

There are several types of deeds, including warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, grant deeds, deed polls, and sheriff's deeds. I won't get into the legal mumbo-jumbo (although I've provided some hyperlinks within the text of this paragraph if you are interested), as you want to look for the same types of information in each. The issue of whether a grantor (seller) warranted the title or not is of little historical significance to your house history unless you also find some evidence of an ownership dispute or claims by other parties.

Using deeds for a house history research project is a bit different than for, say genealogy and family history research, as we are examining just a single piece of property in one location: examining its singular growth, splits, subdivisions, and ownership history across (presumably) many different families. However, the analysis methods are nearly the same, looking for the same types of information. More recent deeds (perhaps from 1900 on) will be typewritten, whereas earlier deeds were recorded by hand and are more difficult to read. You will be searching for names, neighbors, land descriptions, deed restrictions, and references to other documents, which we will provide examples for here.

Names

There will be many names listed in the deed, starting most importantly with the grantor(s) and grantee(s). Both will be listed within the first paragraph. Sometimes, the name of the municipality where each maintains residency will be listed. If the grantor is living in a different town or city from where the land/house is located, there is a strong likelihood that he never actually occupied the property. Throughout the document, the grantor and grantee will be referenced multiple times (when covenants of the deeds are expressed), but their names may have been replaced with the actual word "grantor" or with "said party of the first part" for the grantor/seller ("grantee" or "said party of the second part" for the grantee/buyer). Knowing where each party lived prior to the transaction can give you a clue as to where to look for census listings and other records of these people prior to their ownership, arming you with a richer sense of who they were.

As mentioned in the post on chaining the title, there may be a paragraph which summarizes the previous deed in the chain, giving you the name of another prior owner to research further. This paragraph often begins with "Being the same premises...". Further, regarding the grantor and grantee, the spouse's names are often listed which can confirm that you are researching the correct "John Smith", for example, in other records.

A legal description will always be given, as this tells the world exactly what property is being conveyed. Look at this description carefully-- it may contain the names of owners of neighboring property. Neighbors, especially in earlier deeds, should be researched further, as they could be relatives of one of the parties, or could potentially have owned the land when it was part of a larger tract. They may even be persons of local historical significance if their land had not yet been subdivided at the time. The owner of neighboring land may also be a corporation, which you can try to research and understand more about.

Finally, usually towards the end of the deed, witnesses as well as the notary are listed. While you need not research these people extensively, you should at least try to determine from census and other records if they were possible relatives of one of the parties. If either the grantor or grantee happens to be a bank or loan corporation, the names of one or more of its officers with legal authority to convey the property will be listed here towards the end. Take note of these names as well, as they may appear in other deeds related to your land, and may have been significant local figures.

Note that witness Bertha Spear Davis may be related to grantor Emma L. Spear

Dates

This may seem obvious, but dates in time are recorded and referenced in deeds. There is the date a transaction occurred, the date the deed was recorded in the appropriate county office, the date of the previous deed, as well as the date of any other referenced documents. Dates, obviously, help you place certain events into the timeline of house history.

Money, and Other Considerations

Generally, near the beginning of the deed and typically right after the grantee and grantor are identified, the consideration amount is given. This can very loosely be translated as the sale price of the transaction, but one must be careful. Actual sale prices were sometimes hidden from public record by listing a nominal amount in the deeds, followed by "and other good and valuable considerations". This may have been done for privacy reasons or to avoid a greater tax bill on the sale (the latter being more difficult these days). Also, other considerations could have been made and may even be spelled out, such as the deeding of a land in exchange for a nominal sum plus providing care and living quarters for the grantor for the remainder of his life. A consideration amount of $1 may also be a clue for you to look in the Recorder of Deeds office for a mortgage on the property around that date in the name of the grantee.

Since the consideration is only $1 between two unrelated parties, this is a clue that the grantee may have taken out a mortgage on the property.

References to Other Documents

Wills, probate records, other deeds, court proceedings, surveys, and sheriff sales are just examples of other documents which may be referenced in a deed. Any of these can be sought for further information. Although not referenced specifically, the existence of a mortgage on the property can be strongly clued by the consideration amount.

Reference to a writ of Fieri Facias in 1925-- time to visit the Court of Common Pleas!

Legal Description of Land

Refer once again to the land's legal description. As you are chaining, you want to be sure you are consistently referring to the same property. The survey which records the properties current boundaries should also be listed for you to refer back to and/or request a copy of from the county. If the deed you are examining describes the land when it had different boundaries than it does currently, you can try to chart or plot the boundaries from the older deed to understand the boundaries the larger tract once had. Historic atlas maps can be consulted in conjunction with this effort to see if it matches up. Once you've plotted the larger tract, you may be able to find the old residence of the former landowner nearby to your house, if it still exists. As street names are often used in these legal descriptions, you can compare to current streets names and see if they remain the same or if they have evolved over time.

Deed Restrictions

If there are any restrictions which the grantor is placing on the grantee's use of the land, they will be listed in the deed. Many times these restrictions were applied to subdivisions in order to avoid uses in the neighborhood which caused offensive odors. Sometimes, unusual restrictions are listed, which adds interest to the history of the property.

Absolutely no piggeries!!!

"Jackpot" Information

While any piece of information is a jackpot in the eye of the beholder, some deeds truly do contain a boatload. If a tract of land remained within the same family for many decades, passed down through generations of heirs, a deed was likely not recorded. Such conveyances took place officially through the probate process. Researching wills and probates is another, wholly useful task, but is one for us to discuss another day. Eventually, when the land was sold out of the family, a large mass of information may have come to light in the ensuing deed document. The "Being the same premises" section might just be a jackpot. Consider this example:

Here, we are presented with the following:

• The names of at least 6 previous owners of the referenced land, prior to grantor Emma Spear (Henry B. Bruner and his wife; Daniel H. Mulvaney; Isaac Knight; Bertha C. Mulvaney; Ralph L. Stone; and Julia L. Mulvaney). Many of these individuals were related to one another and those relationships are spelled out clearly.
• Clear evidence (and release) of a rental arrangement involving the property which compensated the Trustees of the Friends Meeting at Abington. The will of Isaac Knight must be consulted further to determine if the Friends held an actual ownership stake in the property, or what the exact arrangement was.
• Reference to 2 prior deeds, along with book/page numbers.
• The exact dates of death of 3 of the previous owners.
• References to 4 wills, with book/page numbers given for 3 of them.

This bonanza leaves several breadcrumbs for further research-- it is dated 1917 and references a will from 1815, so a time period of 102 years is largely outlined here. Be sure to look especially closely at deeds directly preceding the subdivision of a larger land tract. Such subdivisions often occurred within a decade after the death of a landowner, and the deed resulting from the sale of the family farm can lead to a very informative document.

Do remember that deeds reference land, not a house specifically. The mention of "all and singular buildings" or other structures as inclusions in the deed does not guarantee that a house, or even any structure, existed at that time. However, even if a particular deed is from a date prior to the existence of your subject house, knowing the full history of the land on which it sits can help tell the story of the house came to be. One should strive to photocopy and abstract, and ideally transcribe, all deeds relating to the subject property in order to extract all possible clues.

Read More »

Piecing Together a Chain of Title for a House's Land

One of the most important research tasks to undertake in the house history is referred to as compiling the "chain of title." This process is equal parts laborious and informative. Although it is a quite extensive search, you are really getting to the meat here by gathering all the deeds on the property. This will serve to essentially create a full ownership history of the land on which your subject house sits, assuming you don't encounter any insurmountable gaps. Note that I said history of the land (not the house), as property deeds most often do not explicitly mention the existence of a house (or not) on a given property.

Image from a deed Index book. Image courtesy of US GenWeb Project (Carter County, KY) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycarter/deeds/1_index_deeds.html

A Note About Title Insurance

In fact, if you are the current owner and you purchased with a mortgage, this search was already conducted (at least partly) by a title company who provided title insurance for your home transaction. If your mortgage lender didn't describe the title insurance to you (or he/she did and it simply went in one ear and out the other), the title company is insuring that the title will be clear of any other claims or deed restrictions of which you may not be aware, and thus to do so they need to research the public records. This may or may not have resulted in you receiving an "abstract of title", a summary of the title history, amongst the stacks of paper you received at closing. If so, this can shorten your workload a bit. If not, you can ask the title company for it, but they might not produce it for you. Either way, we will describe here the process of title chaining from start to finish.

Start With the Most Recent Deed

In a nutshell, one needs to start with the current deed, then locate the previous deed, then the one prior to that, and so on as far back as possible, to create a chain of deeds backwards in time. In theory, one could continue this process to chart back to the origins of individual property ownership (back to William Penn in Pennsylvania), noting any subdivisions along the way. While you may be able to gather a deed or two online, based on the county, this is a search process you will need to complete in person (or request specific records in writing, which will certainly take more time and can be costly).

Property deeds are typically kept at the county level in the office of the Recorder of Deeds (or similar name), in bound Book volumes. Deeds or other property records from the very early days of a state's land ownership history may be in a state repository or archives. Each deed at the county will be listed with a Book (or Volume) number, and a Page (or Folio) number, such as "Book 5375, Page 1834." The other important piece of information to extract for the purposes of chaining the title are the Grantor (Seller) and the Grantee (Buyer) for the transaction being recorded in the deed. Both of these pieces of information are found in the Deed Index books, and are referenced in the actual deeds themselves as well. In the deed itself, the Grantor and Grantee are listed at the beginning of the document. Once you have one deed, you will use deed references and indices to locate the deed previous to it in the chain. As a side note, you should make a photocopy of each deed in your chain, abstracting (summarizing) in your research notes along the way key pieces of information, such as dates, names of individuals involved, consideration amount (sale price), and book/page numbers of other documents to search.

Locating the Previous Deed

Armed with the name of the Grantor from the current deed, consult the Grantee Index (your county may have a computer station for you to perform general searches rather than using the actual physical bound volumes). The Grantor in the current deed should be the Grantee in the previous deed. Locate the individual in the Grantee index and a Book and Page number should be listed where you can find the actual deed. You may find the same individual listed multiple (or many) times in the Grantee index. If the index has any additional information, such as the municipality where the property is located, this can narrow down which deed you are looking for. Otherwise, you may need to take note of all deeds for that Grantee prior to the current deed and look each up until you find the right property. While less likely, if you happen to be starting with an old deed and working forward in time, you will take the Grantee name in the deed and look for that individual in the Grantor index.

A Shortcut!

Hopefully, the deeds for your area will contain a clause which can save you significant time by allowing you to bypass the Grantor/Grantee Index books entirely. Scan the deed for a paragraph beginning with "Being the same premises which..." or something very similar. This paragraph should tell you exactly where the previous deed in the chain is!! See the following example:

In this example, now all one needs to do is go directly to Book 1096, and open to Page 26 to find the previous deed.

Once you locate the previous deed, find the written legal description of the property within it. There are several ways a property may be described legally, but it will always refer to a very specific location and boundary for the property. You will need to compare the legal description from one deed to the next, ensuring that you are continuing the chain on the same piece of land.

Reference Surveys

Each deed you encounter will likely include reference to the survey which originally recorded the piece of land as its own individual lot or tract. The book/page numbers should also be listed, which you can also look up in order to find a copy of the actual survey on record. The date on a survey is a good indication of a change in legal description of the property, usually accompanied by another sale/conveyance or by a subdivision of the land.

In this example, the reference survey is from the 1919 subdivision of Ferguson's North Glenside. Prior to this date, the land would have been a larger tract and will have a different legal description moving backward in time. However, the process for finding the previous deed remains the same.

If You Hit a Snag

You may encounter an apparent gap, or a "dead end" in your chain if the deeds you are working with do not specifically mention the previous deed in the chain, and if you strike out searching all deeds for the Grantor in the Grantee index. One reason could be that the land was conveyed via a method or instrument other than a deed, such as a will. This may complicate your title chaining considerably, as you will need to consult other documents, such as wills, probate records, and mortgages. In some cases, you might not be able to locate a document to explain or fill a gap in title.

Completing the Chain

Now, you may only be interested in the history of your house's land during the time period when your house actually sat on it, and that's fine. You can end your chain once you reach a point when it is clear there was no house on the property. However, remember that these deeds do not speak of your house's existence or lack thereof at any given time. You will need to use other methods described on this blog and elsewhere to date your house. Noting the consideration amount (price) on each deed can give you clues as to when the house was constructed if there was a sizable jump in price over a short period of time (indicating that some sort of construction likely took place to increase value), but this method of dating is tricky and not foolproof.

You can also continue chaining well before the construction date of your home or even beyond the subdivision, which will give your house history further depth and give you a greater understanding of the local history.

Whenever you choose to complete your chain, you should create a list such as the one below, which will serve as a snapshot summary of your land's history and will include information such as sale prices, dates, and previous owners. This is an incredible important tool of analysis and gateway into other sources of information, such as mortgages, census listings for former owners, and other ephemera of local history. Stay tuned, as we will touch on all of these and more in future posts.

Read More »

Saturday Spotlight- Circa 1860's Second Empire in Gwynedd Valley

This week's Saturday Spotlight house is a stout and well-kept Second Empire in Lower Gwynedd, PA.

Although this house is a robust 3,800 square feet and commands its fair share of attention on Brushtown Road, it is dwarfed by many of the multi-million dollar mansions on the same road and in Lower Gywnedd at large. Yet, unlike the neighboring estates, this house has stood the test of time. It exhibits the characteristics of the Victorian Second Empire style, which was most popular in the post-civil war era.

The most distinctive feature of the Second Empire is the mansard roof, and on this house we see a straight-lined and shingled mansard. It's simple shape and lack of curves or flares owes to the simple nature of the rest of the home's exterior, as it lacks bracketing or other ornate details that many Second Empires exhibit. Yet, nonetheless, the three-ranked main facade of windows is typical of the style, and the two-story centered porch fits in as well. The dormer windows at the third level have an arched top, which is common.

Though you can't easily tell from the road, this house has significant addition square footage built onto it with a series of single-story additions: one on the rear, and one on the side. The single-story greenhouse is also clearly visible on the right side of the house from the road. The architecture of the house, both original and addition, is unified by some fine-looking wood german siding and what appear to be original wood shutters (at the least, if they are not original then they appear accurate historical reproductions from the street).

Origins

This one was a tricky one to date, as the county assessor's office has a construction date of 1832 listed. However, homes of this style simply were not built in the 1830's. The Second Empire style came into prominence as a modern style, both in the U.S. and in France, not until the 1850's at its earliest. Furthermore, although I labored to find documents or maps (within my reasonably short Saturday Spotlight research scope) that gave any indication of its existence prior to 1870, I was unable to do so. Perhaps further research would prove me wrong, but the house seems to be indicated on an 1871 map, but not on one from 1857. Thus, I am going to date this as an 1860's house.

A brief note about the land where this house sits. It appears to be part of the 700-acre tract originally settled by Edward Foulke, one of the earliest settlers of Gwynedd Township, in 1698.

The earliest owner which I was able to verify was Ms. Rachel Burrows, who owned the house at age 61 in the 1870 US census. Her husband John Burrows had previously passed away (possibly only a few years earlier, in 1867), but it is possible that the Burrows' were the home's original owners. Their son, 29-year-old William, is listed in the same household as a farmer, presumably farming the 4-acre land surrounding the home after his father's death. William's older sisters Matilda (age 34) and Mary (age 38) lived at the house as well in 1870, along with an 8-year-old girl named Ida May Scott. I did not dig too deeply into the genealogy of this family, but Ms. Rachel Burrows' maiden name was Scott, so it is easy to assume that the little girl was of some relation, perhaps even just visiting her aunt Rachel for the summer. The value of the home was estimated at $7,000 in 1870.

Rachel Burrows passed away in 1876 in Gwynedd, presumably at this house (an assumption, not a verified fact). Her son William continued to own the farm through at least 1880. The sisters, Mary and Matilda, continued on living at the house as well. An adopted 9-year-old girl also lived with the three single siblings in 1880. Somewhere within the next decade, however, ownership transfer to a Frank Woodhead.

By the time 1916 comes around, all the single-story additions appear to have been built already, and the house is owned by an Albert Boyle McMullen. County records indicate the construction of a garage structure (still present) in 1930. In 1934, and through at least 1940, the house and farm were owned by John B. and Jenny "Jennie" E. Heilman. John, a retired confectioner, was age 75 at the 1940 census, while Jenny was 68 years old, and the couple's son, 37-year-old Francis lived with them. The property was valued at $9,000 at this time. John Heilman, being French-born, perhaps was drawn to the Second Empire style of the house. He passed away in 1941 in Gwynedd Valley (again, maybe at the house, as no hospital or institution is listed on his death certificate).

1970s to Present

This house and its land have continued an interesting life in the past few decades as well. From late 1975 to early 1987, the house was owned by Francis Dring Wetherill Jr. Mr. Wetherill is a descendant of John Wanamaker, of department store fame, and his stepmother was a member of the Du Pont family. In 1987, the house was sold to Hugh A. A. Sargent, a senior partner in one of the most prominent law firms in Philadelphia.

Photo of the house, estimated from 1990s. Courtesy of Montgomery County

In 1998, the house, and perhaps more significantly, the land, were sold to a corporate entity-- Walmere Manor Land Development. At a time when incredibly large and impressive mansions were being built throughout Gwynedd Valley, this land was subdivided the following year into three parcels. Luckily, the 1860's house and its accompanying structures were spared and sold to a new owner that same year.  The remaining land was used to house a new multi-million dollar estate for Walmere's executive vice president. It is indeed a gorgeous building (I can't fathom using the word "house") and it was chronicled in a publication for luxury real estate listings in 2012.

The mansion built behind the 1860's house. Courtesy of Unique Homes Magazine

As for our Spotlight house, it was sold again in 2007 for $620,000 to a new steward-- a pittance compared to most of its neighbors. But it stands proud, kept in order, with its german siding and mansard roof, taking a proud position right against the street, whereas all the mansions are set back hundreds of feet. Take a drive along Brushtown Road, and admire this historic house as a stand-out among its fancy neighbors.

Read More »