Solitude Farm
Why it's listed
Solitude Farm is a stone farmhouse and farmstead on Church Farm Road in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The core was built about 1750 as a two-room hall-parlor house with a kitchen wing, and a two-thirds Georgian wing with a full basement was added in 1761, as its datestone shows. The core retains raised colonial paneling, built-in cupboards, and a hall-parlor layout that is considered undisturbed. The house is regarded as a fully developed eighteenth-century rural plantation house of high quality. In 1904, Clarence Sears Kates commissioned architect Milton Medary to make largely cosmetic changes, including diamond-paned dormers and a porch, leaving the interior intact. The property was home to the Jacobs family, and John Jacobs, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1776, supplied the patriot army during the Revolution. The farm was known for its limestone quarries and kilns and for an annual event called Harvest Home. It was acquired by Church Farm School in the 1950s.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an excellent example of eighteenth-century building traditions, originally a hall-parlor plan house enlarged to Georgian ideals, with superb colonial paneling largely undisturbed. It also ties the property to the Jacobs family, including John Jacobs, who was active in the Revolution and supplied the patriot army.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 84003303, listed August 2, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Church Farm Rd., West Whiteland |
|---|---|
| County | Chester County |
| Listed | August 2, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84003303 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1700-1799 |
| Architect / builder | Milton Medary (architect, 1904 alterations) |
| Architectural style | Colonial/Georgian |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 9.6 |
| Coordinates | 40.04812, -75.60268 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 84003303.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7558287
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.