Lancaster County PA Realty Check: Another Lancaster County Farm House Bites the Dust

Brian,

Seems a big disaster there, nice pictures taken, keep the good blog and post my friend. I will look forward to read more, I always learn from you.

Ray Saenz

Thanks, Ray.  It's not like there haven't been success stories in preserving our historic homes.  But too often old  houses are torn down for stupid reasons.  An eighteenth century log home in Elizabethtown was torn down so that a church could expand its parking lot. 

The eighteenth century stone Flory Mill farmhouse was demolished, not because it was in poor condition; not because anything was being built to replace it; but because its owners didn't want the liability of a vacant house.

Hi Brian.  What an all too familiar but sad story your pictures tell.  I felt the same way while watching the old farmhouse on Petersburg Road and Fruitville Pike come down a few months ago, for the new development of homes, townhomes and retail shops coming in.  And my thoughts were exactly like yours were here - wondering about what sort of families have lived there over the years and what sorts of treasures those old walls held.  And I'll miss the giant Christmas wreath with blue lights that I have seen for the past decade or so every holiday season hanging from the front porch of that old house.  I just couldn't believe that efforts weren't made to build around that particular home, rather than take it down.  

It makes me feel we all need to work harder to become stewards of our local lands and raise awareness.

This is a sad story and comments, Brian. I wish all historic  homes and sites could be preserved and admired for their beauty and good craftsmanship.  Thank you for taking pictures of this old farmhouse before it disappeared for good.

Do you have pictures of the log house you restored ?

Jo 

 

Progress is good but not when we destroy our past. It looked like a great home.

Brian,

We are seeing the same kind of things here in Lebanon County. There is a huge area in South Londonderry Township just north of Campbelltown that has been approved for development. Hundreds of homes plus a retail center (they tout a new Giant among other shops). The only saving grace is that the farmhouse has been designated as a historical property so it will remain.

Meanwhile, North Londonderry (where I live) has been less hospitable to development so it'll be a while before we see this here.

 

Jeannie, I watched and admired the farmhouse at Petersburg Road and Fruitville Pike myself.  I know that that area is under great development pressure, but there's still no reason not to preserve an old farmhouse with great character, even with new homes built around it.  In fact, it would have enhanced the character of the newer subdivision.

The way the original farmhouse was preserved and restored by the pond in Woods Edge is an example of how our architectural heritage doesn't have to be destroyed by development. 

Jo, I do have photos of the log and stone home I restored in Marietta, before, during and after the restoration.  Unfortunately, they're over twenty years old, taken before the advent of digital photography, so I can't share them in this venue. 

Actually, the photos I have of many of the restorations I did would make great blogs on their own, if they were only in digital format.

Fred, I'm glad that at least the farmhouse in South Londonderry Township is being preserved.  I wonder whether the developers chose to preserve it on their own, or whether they were forced to because it had been designated a historical property?

It is was the latter, it shows the value of getting significant homes onto the National Register of Historic Places. 

Ashley, we can't stop progress, but society could be a lot more intelligent about what it destroys in the process.

So sad.  At what price progress?

Brian - I was going to leave a brief comment after reading this post and moved on.  However, then I read a comment you made that is worth repeating because it is wisdom at its finest.  

 "we can't stop progress, but society could be a lot more intelligent about what it destroys in the process."

Brian, Did you know that you can take pictures of your physical
pictures with your digital camera ? I have done this often (although now I have a scanner ) in the past and used the pictures in emails and blogs.

The quality is not the greatest, however it does work.  I would love to see more posts about heritage and historical sites/homes from you.

For example,  here is a picture I took with my digital camera of a framed photograph I have of my Grandparents when they were first married. 

Jo 

Jason, I've taken note of some of your wisdom as well.  One of my favorites:  "Live each day as though it were your last; learn as though you were going to live forever."

Maggie, it is sad when no trace is left of a piece of history.  That's why I feel compelled to record some of it.

Jo, unfortunately, my present camera doesn't have the close-up capability to take good pictures of old photos.  Perhaps in the future I'll be able to do this, or figure out how to get a good scanned copy.

BTW, your grandparents were a very handsome couple! 

Thanks Brian.  My camera is about 5 years old and is only 2 mega pixels, yes TWO !  If you saw the picture that I derived the above one from, you would see that mine does not have the capability either. What I do is take a picture of a picture, then I adjust it (crop, lighten, etc) with google's Picasa (free to download and very good~ I use it for my real estate photos too). 

I just formed a new group for posts that have anything at all to do with historical sites, antiques, etc and I would be honoured if  you would  join and post all of your posts about heritage and history there. It would be nice for people to have one central place to come to and read all of these . 

Jo 

Jo, I joined your new group.  I'll be away the remainder of this week, but will post some of my past historical posts later on.

Good post, Brian.  I agree with Jeannie about that big house at Fruitville & Petersburg - a shame.  It's an awkward place to be, a realtor who is not in favor of development (in most cases).  Here in Lancaster it's the big developers that make the biggest messes, it seems.  Have you seen the latest mess on Petersburg Road at Weaver?  They tore down 2 farmhouses and at least one nice barn.

Jeff, it does seem to be a contradiction for a Realtor(R), but I have fought to preserve old buildings in the past, and no doubt will again.  I'm not against development per se, but I do resent it when no respect is given to the historic or architecturally significant homes in the way of the developers.

I have not seen what was torn down at Petersburg Road at Weaver.  That's a shame.  The countryside that drew people to see Lancaster County is slowly disappearing.

I'm not against development either, but agree Brian that some respect should be given to the old homes and efforts should be made to avoid demolition.  Maybe we should start a local organization - Realtors Against the Destruction of Farmhomes. I'd put that on a bumper sticker!

Jeannie, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has a local chapter in the 18th-century Sehner-Ellicot House on North Prince Street.  They do good work in documenting and trying to save historic homes.  I was a member years ago when I was actively restoring old houses.  If you want to join an organization, they would be an excellent choice.  I may get active again myself when I have time.

Brian, I've actually been a member myself for a few years, but have let my membership slip by the wayside.  I joined when my husband and I purchased a tobacco warehouse in Lancaster City.  We thought that perhaps we might want to renovate the top floor into a residence at some point, but haven't really pursued that.  Still, it's a great building and I have collected a huge amount of very informative reading and reference material from the Trust.  Now I feel all guilty for not doing much to help, so maybe I'll renew my membership. 

Brian, thank you for joining the Heritage Properties, Historic Sites and Antiques group !  I look forward to reading your posts there and learning more about historical homes and the history of your area.

Jo 

I've worked with Carole Wilson of the county when I wrote my book about historic East Petersburg last summer.  She's involved with the Preservation Trust as an advisor.  I'll drop her an email about this.  "Save our Farmhouses!"  right Jeannie?

That's right, Jeff!
I think more developers shoud consider donating these old houses to the local trade schools.  Let them work on them as class projects, upgrading them, etc.  Perhaps then auctioning or selling them to raise money for civic groups. 

I know it costs about $20,000 minimum to tear one down - a donation would be a better route.

Brian 

Hm... I can see, well, but what we can do?  nothing , we just will spend a lot of energy to try to stop them and who knows if they will hear, I do not think so.

also, I memed you, so lets start working on that.

Ray Saenz

Brian,

Hm... I can see, well, but what we can do?  nothing , we just will spend a lot of energy to try to stop them and who knows if they will hear, I do not think so.

also, I memed you, so lets start working on that.

Ray Saenz

Ray, never underestimate the power of the people. If even one piece of history can be saved, it is well worth the effort. The other thing is, towns and cities who have preserved their historical sites and heritage homes, do much better economically and on a tourist front. It's win-win all around.

Jo 

Hey Jo,

thanks for your comments and for the email :) fixed it !!!! :P  sometimes I am so stupid :P

Jeff, around here the lot is often worth more than preserving the house....unfortunately. Oftentimes what is done is that the house/building is offered to the public and someone comes along and dismantles it and moves it to another less valuable lot or to a historic site. Somehow it is not the same though...a big part of it's history is why and where it was originally built.

Ray, hmmm,  i make these errors too.....too many details to check on and not enough time. You are definitely not stupid, Otherwise, i guess we all are..of course, it means we're  only human afterall ! 

 

ok, guess we're rainjacking Brian's blog.  ...sorry Brian.

Jo 

Jo,

thanks for your emails, everything is now fixed :P LOL, I know that many of us do mistakes, but not so often, I did a lot :) hahaha

Ray Saenz

all i can say is that you have a unique way of fixing things, Ray.   ((((-:

Jo 

Brian, One of the things we as a nation need to do is determine what real progress is.  I believe that those who would destroy the old to replace  with the new and shoddy are actually taking us backwards.  At the very least, if they are tearing down old, they should dismantle and recycle instead of bulldoze and haul to landfills.  Thanks for the post.

I agree, David.  The strip malls and such that replace many of these old buildings are coarser in character than what they replaced.

Brian,

I can agree with you, your words are wisdom my friend, well said !!! :)

Ray Saenz

Jo,

Well you understand me very well then :)

Ray Saenz