At Home su 16
by Mary beth Schwartz
On a glorious summer day, you can drive around many parts of Bucks County and observe its great collection of historic homes. Whether you are in such places as Quakertown, Newtown, Yardley, or Bristol, you are sure to see homes that have been here since the days of early colonists. Do you often wonder who is historically preserving these homes and adapting them for modern needs? One custom residential architectural design firm, Period Architecture, Ltd., is in fact doing that for many families in Southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
Founded in 2010, Period Architecture, Ltd. works with clients to create uniquely tailored designs in a variety of styles and periods. Their project portfolio includes new homes, barns & property planning, restoration & preservation, new homes, and additions & renovations. “As visionaries, my partner Jeffrey Dolan and I create timeless architectural expressions of beauty harmonizing with the landscape, complementing the character of a region with a masterful articulation of light, proportion, scale, and thoughtful integration of sustainable materials and systems,” says Owner/President Joseph Mackin, Jr.
Mackin, Jr., and Dolan work with a close network of builders and craftsmen on many historically significant homes in the area, many of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. “We respect the old homes and modernize them for the way that we live today. Many of our homes have been showcased in regional home tours,” Mackin, Jr., notes.
Period Architecture, Ltd. recently worked on a historic home for a couple in Washington Crossing, The John Knowles House. The homeowners are dedicated to keeping the home as a historic site. They lovingly share a history lesson. According to records, the property where the house stands was the northernmost point of the First Walking Purchase made by William Penn from the Lenape Indians on July 15, 1682. The Walking Purchase included lands from the mouth of Neshaminy Creek to Towissink Creek, which is now referred to as either Jericho Creek or Knowles Creek. The property was transferred to The London Company, an English joint stock company chartered by the King of England, and the first deeded sale of the property took place on March 14, 1722.
The John Knowles House, built between 1725 and 1730, was a Quaker style English cottage made of fieldstone and set on a fieldstone foundation with a brick basement floor made of ballast brick, reportedly moved to the site from Philadelphia. The construction and future expansion was very similar and ran parallel to The Thompson-Neely House about a mile up the road now in Washington Crossing Historic Park. The John Knowles House and The Thompson-Neely House both represent an evolution of a simple farmstead of early settlers to a more substantial vernacular Georgian farmhouse with hall and parlor plans. The John Knowles house remained a private residence and represents a pristine example of an early Quaker settler house that was a standard of the day. The house has been continuously occupied for almost 300 years.
Over the years, The John Knowles House has transformed. According to the homeowners, initially a second story was added to The John Knowles House cottage and then a much larger addition was added around 1770, which converted the house to a hall and parlor arrangement.
Added at the same time was a large granite stone cooking fireplace with a bake oven. An appendage added during this addition served as a summer kitchen or utility room with a trap door to the basement. This was later converted to a modern kitchen without impacting the original historical design. Other structures on the original property included a 1700s original barn/blacksmith shop, an 1800s bank barn, and an ice house. In the late 1800s, the family land was split into many parcels. In 1930, the land that was essentially John Knowles’ original tract was bought by John Buckland. In 1951, the property was sold for development for what today is Buckland Valley Farms. The John Knowles House now stands on its own separate parcel.
In 2013, the homeowners discovered Period Architecture, Ltd. They wanted to remove a one-story addition that was added in 1977. They wanted the new addition to be architecturally aligned with the original structure. “The ground floor master that did not exist years back when this home was built. We had to respect the scale of the house. We wanted to continue the order of the sections of the house and it made a very low roofline. It was a challenge—we wanted our addition to be the smallest piece. At the same time, it had to connect to the house—match the stone and all of detail of the existing house,” Mackin, Jr., explains.
The end result was a first floor master bedroom suite with master bath and a home/office den on the second floor. For the home office/den, the architects designed a custom built-in bookcase with a secret door to the attic behind it. This gave an attic feel because the roofline is so low. On top of the addition, a cupola was added with a dovecote. The homeowners supplied a decorative weathervane. Outside of the bedroom is a Williamsburg inspired garden and a patio space. While they were at the property, Period Architecture, Ltd. also designed a sign for The John Knowles House, and restored a fireplace that was covered in Mercer tiles.
Located in the oldest part of the house, this fireplace was not original to the structure. The tiles were removed and donated to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.
Period Architecture, Ltd. can be found online through Houzz, Facebook, and their website, www.periodarchitectureltd.com. The award-winning archi tectural firm is located at 53 Church Road, Malvern, PA 19355.. For more information, call 610-719-0101.
Mary Beth Schwartz is a freelance writer who frequently contributes to regional publications.