Whitford Station House
Why it's listed
Built about 1833 of stone in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, this small two-room dwelling stands on the south side of the Pennsylvania Railroad across from the Whitford Station area. It was built for a local tradesman or laborer and follows a traditional rectangular plan with a basement kitchen set into the banked west end, a cooking fireplace, and a storage room used as a root cellar. Upper rooms contain small fireplaces, a built-in cupboard, and original beaded partitions. The house is regarded as the village building with the strongest surviving integrity, and it reflects the period when Whitford grew around the railroad as a stop with stabling, a water supply for steam engines, and stages running to West Chester. Its interior arrangement is the basis for its listing, as an example of the Penn Plan used for a modest dwelling of its era.
Significance in brief: The house is eligible under criterion C as an example of a type of dwelling used by tradesmen, and it is significant for its use of the Penn Plan to arrange its interior space. It is also associated with the village of Whitford, or Oakland, which developed after the Pennsylvania Railroad was built and became a stop and service area on the Main Line.
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 84003324, listed August 2, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 405 S. Whitford Rd., West Whiteland |
|---|---|
| County | Chester County |
| Listed | August 2, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84003324 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1820-1839 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 0.8 |
| Coordinates | 40.01415, -75.63707 (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 84003324.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7996468
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.