Graeme Park, 859 County Line Road, Horsham, Montgomery County, PA

See also HALS PA-21 for additional documentation.

Significance: The mansion house at Graeme Park -a rare surviving example of early colonial American architecture -was conceived of as a utilitarian structure on a Governor's plantation, the structure became the Georgian-styled centerpiece of a country retreat and backdrop for an intellectual salon that largely concentrated on the development of genteel republican ideologies. Graeme Park, originally called Fountain Low, rose on an improved portion of Lieutenant Governor Sir William Keith's 1,735 acre Pennsylvania plantation. The three-story structure was built in 1722 probably envisioned as a malt-house for the production of alcohol. In 1739, the plantation was purchased by Dr. Thomas Graeme, the son-in-law of Keith, and renovated during his ownership into a high-style Georgian summer dwelling for himself and his family, which in the mid-1760s became their year-round residence.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N431

Survey number: HABS PA-579

Building/structure dates: ca. 1755- 1765 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: ca. 1722- 1738 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1801-1920 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1958-2000 Subsequent Work

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000672

dwellings commercial facilities horsham heights graeme graeme park line county line road horsham montgomery county pennsylvania robert r arzola jack e boucher elizabeth fergusson michael gibble thomas graeme historic american buildings survey corri l jiminez william keith john kirk joshua aaron may emese olosz virginia barrett price cervin robinson jon lamar wilson photo ultra high resolution high resolution aristocracy british republican party us republican party architecture commercial buildings architeture interior governors library of congress national register of historic places

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html