{"nrhp_refnum":"73001602","name":"Rooke, Robert, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Downingtown on Horseshoe Trail at Fellowship Rd., West Vincent Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Downingtown","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.12203283300005,"lon":-75.66124459678554,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-09-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-section stone house in Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, consisting of an original 2½ story fieldstone structure and a three story fieldstone addition built soon after 1841.","why_significant":"The house is significant as an example of a large mid-19th century addition built perpendicular to an existing smaller structure, a practice the nomination describes as localized. It combines early Victorian and Georgian architectural features, including a center hall plan, end chimneys, six over six sash windows, a low pitched gable roof, deep bracketed cornice, and eyebrow windows. It is known primarily as the residence of Robert Rooke, a prosperous meat packer who purchased the property in 1841.","narrative":"Built in the 1840s in Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the Rooke House is a stone residence made of a 2½ story fieldstone section and a three story fieldstone addition attached perpendicular to it. The addition was built soon after 1841 for Robert Rooke, a meat packer who had bought the property that year. Its west front is five bays wide with a centrally placed door, reflecting a central hallway plan. The house combines Georgian and early Victorian features, including six over six sash windows with shutters, a low pitched gable roof, a deep bracketed cornice, and eyebrow windows on the third story. The entire structure is stuccoed and whitewashed, and the door has a transom, sidelights, and an earred architrave. The house is valued for its design as an example of a large mid-19th century perpendicular addition built onto a smaller existing structure, a practice the nomination describes as localized. The original kitchen wing retains its form, and the house has changed little on the exterior apart from a modern roof and some replacement windows.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1841","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Combination of Georgian and early Victorian features","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The house has undergone few exterior alterations, apart from a modern shingle roof over both sections and replacement of original six over six sash windows in the older section with two over two sash windows.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.327463-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001602.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001602/460d83d312-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001602/460d83d312-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rooke_House_Chesco.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rooke_House_Chesco.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"98000400","name":"West Vincent Highlands Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/west-vincent-highlands-historic-district-98000400/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995272","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rooke_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7349370"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/rooke-robert-house-73001602/"}