{"nrhp_refnum":"84003295","name":"Oaklands","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"349 W. Lincoln Hwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Whiteland","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.025463726000055,"lon":-75.64338712599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Oaklands is a stuccoed stone farmhouse on West Lincoln Highway in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, built in 1772 by George Thomas, with later wings and a stone gatehouse on the tract.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant for its association with the Thomas family, who were prominent in Chester County agriculture, and as an example of colonial building patterns in the township. It also points to a rare two-tiered porch on the nineteenth-century wing. Reviewers asked for more on the house's integrity and its agricultural significance.","narrative":"Built in 1772 by George Thomas, a brother of Colonel Richard Thomas, the Oaklands house in West Whiteland Township is a two-story stuccoed stone dwelling with a dated core, a wing to the east with a cat-slide roof, and a secondary wing to the north. Its builder was among the first in Chester County to apply lime to fields as a soil supplement, and the farm was later developed into one of the county's showplaces by his grandson, George Thomas, MD (1808-1887). During the winter of 1777-8 the house was used by the Uwchlan Meeting while its regular house in Lionville served as a hospital for sufferers from nearby Valley Forge. The house is a member of the Thomas Thematic Group and is important for its ties to the family and for its unusual two-tiered porch, which is rare in the eastern and central parts of the county. A 1 1/2 story stone gatehouse, remodelled in 1900 as a private school, stands on the tract.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"George Thomas","architectural_style":"Colonial","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"The nominated acreage includes the house and gatehouse; the garage/barn is on a separate parcel under different ownership.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.41436-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84003295.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003295/c72369f4e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003295/c72369f4e5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oaklands_Chesco_PA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oaklands_Chesco_PA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992510","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaklands_(West_Whiteland_Township,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7074075"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/oaklands-84003295/"}