{"nrhp_refnum":"76001657","name":"Pennypacker Mansion","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5 Haldeman Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Schwenksville","county":"Montgomery County","state":"PA","lat":40.25419877200005,"lon":-75.45726163399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-11-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone house with stucco finish, two and a half stories with an L-shaped plan, at Pennypacker's Mills near Schwenksville in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, built about 1718-1730 and later enlarged. It has a flat-roofed verandah across the front and left side, and a detached original kitchen behind the main block.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house was used as Continental Army headquarters for General Washington during the encampment of September 26-29, 1777, and that it was the later summer residence of former Pennsylvania governor Samuel W. Pennypacker. It also notes its link to the 1755 passage of General Braddock's army through the area.","narrative":"Built in the early eighteenth century, probably by Hans Joest Heijt, this stone house with a stucco finish stands in the Perkiomen Valley at Pennypacker's Mills near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Peter Pennebecker bought it in 1747, and his family owned it during the period when it gained wider importance. In 1777, the Continental Army encamped nearby from September 26 to 29, and General George Washington used the house as his headquarters. From there he received news of General Horatio Gates's victory at Stillwater, and he sent requests for troops and supplies that the nomination links to the American move toward Germantown. Around 1902, former Pennsylvania governor Samuel W. Pennypacker enlarged the house with a rear addition, a side kitchen, a wraparound verandah, and dormers, and he used it as a summer home. He also wrote a book about the local history and folklore, which is one reason the property is remembered. The original kitchen survives behind the house, built with the same stone construction.","period_of_significance":"1718-1730","architect_builder":"Hans Joest Heijt (presumed)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.404051-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/76001657.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001657/5f3092d37c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001657/5f3092d37c-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennypacker_Mills_1_Montco_PA.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:Pennypacker_Mills_1_Montco_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998073","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennypacker_Mills","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7164493"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/montgomery-county/pennypacker-mansion-76001657/"}