{"nrhp_refnum":"00000844","name":"Zook House","other_names":["Owen, William and Elizabeth, House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"100 Exton Sq., Exton","address_restricted":false,"city":"W. Whiteland","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.028803452000034,"lon":-75.62583737899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-07-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story stone linear farmhouse built in four sections from 1750 to about 1820 in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, moved in 1998 to a site about 300 feet southwest of its original location within the Exton Square Mall property.","why_significant":"The house is significant as a representative example of the development of farmhouses in Chester County from the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth century, showing growth from a central core into a unified linear dwelling. It also displays features of the Chester County building tradition and is linked to the Zook family and to an early Amish community in the area.","narrative":"Built in four stages between 1750 and about 1820, this two-story farmhouse in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, is constructed of fieldstone with a limestone addition, under a continuous gable roof. The central 1750 section bears a date stone inscribed with the initials of William Owen's wife Elizabeth and the year. Kitchen and staircase additions followed around 1800, and a limestone section was added about 1820, probably for a growing family. The house is significant as a representative example of Chester County farmhouse development from the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth century. It shows how a dwelling expanded to meet family needs over three generations of Zook family ownership. The Zook family, who acquired the property in 1770, were linked by tradition to an early Amish community that met in a meetinghouse, unusual for Amish practice. The house was moved in 1998 because of expansion of the mall, and its interior was restored between 1972 and 1975.","period_of_significance":"1750-c. 1820","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Chester County vernacular architecture","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Moved in 1998 to its current site; restored 1972-1975.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.130551-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/00000844.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000844/99fe25491a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000844/99fe25491a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zook_House_Exton.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zook_House_Exton.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992536","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zook_House_(West_Whiteland_Township,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8074108"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/zook-house-00000844/"}