Williams, John, Farm

Early 19th century farm complex on a rolling hillside straddling Union Hill Road, south of Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The original rear section of the farm house is random rubble fieldstone with a single-room ground floor dominated by a massive cooking fireplace. In 1827 stone mason John Williams added a front section of five bays with three fireplaces, including mantels of reeded pilasters and Doric capitals. The 1834 bank barn bears a date stone, and the spring house, a stone garden and spring house, a wagon shed and a stone animal pen complete the group. Williams, who learned his trade under a cousin, is recorded as having built houses, public buildings, bridges for railroads, and the Charlestown Presbyterian Church. The farm is regarded as a remarkable collection of early 19th century farm structures in their original setting, showing how a working farm evolved over two centuries, and it retains exceptional integrity of setting.