{"nrhp_refnum":"91001710","name":"South Brook Farm","other_names":["Higgins,Charles A.,Estate","New Bolton Center for Veterinary M"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Street Rd. and Bird Rd., East Marlborough Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"London Grove","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.866770865000035,"lon":-75.75317847420395,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A farm estate on a knoll in London Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania, built up from an early eighteenth-century stone house and outbuildings and remodeled in 1940 for Charles A. Higgins. The complex includes five buildings, among them a bank barn, a garage, and a tenant farmer's house.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the estate is significant as a remarkable Colonial Revival country estate designed by R. Brognard Okie, a master of the regional style. It states that the house incorporates an early Pusey stone dwelling and that Okie's additions reflect the evolution of Pennsylvania architecture. The property is judged to meet Criterion C for its architecture.","narrative":"Set on a knoll of Chester County farmland in London Grove, this estate combines an eighteenth-century stone house, outbuildings, and a bank barn with 1940 remodeling by architect R. Brognard Okie. The core dwelling is traced to a house built by Caleb Pusey around 1717, after he retired from running a grist mill on Chester Creek. Pusey had emigrated in 1682 and was a Quaker associate of William Penn. Charles A. Higgins, a chemist and president of the Hercules Powder Company, bought the property in 1939 and hired Okie to turn the working farm into a gentleman's estate. Okie extended the house, added a parlor, a garage, and a tenant farmer's house, and clad several buildings in board and batten and wide planks. The complex is regarded as one of the best preserved Colonial Revival estates in the state. It is also notable for its Okie-designed interiors, including reproduction paneling and a reused Federal mantel. Since 1958 the main house has been part of the New Bolton Center, a University of Pennsylvania animal research and veterinary facility.","period_of_significance":"1940-1941","architect_builder":"R. Brognard Okie (architect)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Sound condition; the barn is used as part of the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.434414-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001710.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001710/7cb054d707-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001710/7cb054d707-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SOUTH_BROOK_FARM.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SOUTH_BROOK_FARM.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996307","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Brook_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7566430"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/south-brook-farm-91001710/"}