Cliveden (Benjamin Chew House)
Cliveden | |
| |
Location |
6401 Germantown Avenue Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°2′46″N 75°10′56″W / 40.04611°N 75.18222°WCoordinates: 40°2′46″N 75°10′56″W / 40.04611°N 75.18222°W |
Area | 5.4 acres (2.2 ha) |
Built | 1763–1767 |
Built by | Benjamin Chew |
Architect | William Peters |
Architectural style | Georgian colonial |
Part of | Colonial Germantown Historic District (#66000678) |
NRHP reference # | 66000677[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Designated NHL | January 20, 1961 |
Designated NHLDCP | June 23, 1965 |
Cliveden (/ˈklɪvdən/ KLIV-dən), also known as the Benjamin Chew House, is a historic mansion at 6401 Germantown Avenue in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the Battle of Germantown, fought in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War.
History
Built between 1763 and 1767 by Benjamin Chew, the mansion was inhabited from colonial times by seven generations of the Chew family, until 1972.[2] Chew was head of the Pennsylvania Judiciary System under both Colony and Commonwealth, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania. From his legal mentor, Andrew Hamilton, he inherited Hamilton's lifelong clients, the descendants of William Penn.
For Chew's safety, the Executive Committee of the Continental Congress forcibly removed him and his family from Cliveden, as his close friend, George Washington, was ordering his troops to move towards Philadelphia. British Colonel Musgrave then quickly occupied the sturdily built mansion and fought off the attack from within with muskets and bayonets. Washington's army was repelled and driven back down Germantown Avenue in defeat.
In 1961, Cliveden was designated a National Historic Landmark, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. It is part of the Colonial Germantown Historic District.[3] The National Trust for Historic Preservation operates Cliveden as a historic house museum and offers tours from April through December. Significance:
Cliveden is an outstanding example of Philadelphia Georgian architecture. Probably designed by Chew and Jacob Knor, a master carpenter, the stone masonry house has particularly fine interior woodwork.
— Historic American Buildings Survey[4]
Property
The original estate included a number of other structures, including a stable and coach house, a smoke house, hen house, and summer house. The landscaping features statuary and gardens with over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs. In 1868, a two-story addition was added in the original courtyard. A window on the second-floor stair landing in the main house was converted into a hidden doorway to create an entrance to the addition.
The Chew Family Papers, containing an extensive collection of correspondence, documents, financial records and other materials, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
- Colonnade in main hallway
- Southeast room
- Urns, dormers and chimneys on the front roof
- View from the driveway
- Right front of the house
- Left front on the house, showing servants' entrance at left
- Rear entrance of the house
- Rear of the house with outbuildings
See also
References
- ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ Marion, John Francis. Bicentennial City: Walking Tours of Historic Philadelphia. Princeton: The Pyne Press, 1974.
- ↑ Jenkins, Charles F. The Guide Book to Historic Germantown. Germantown Historical Society, 1973.
- ↑ Listing, drawings, and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cliveden (Germantown, Pennsylvania). |
- Official website
- Cliveden at USHistory.org
- Cliveden's summary listing as a National Historic Landmark
- Cliveden (Chew House), National Historic Landmark Nomination. 2014 update.
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1184, "Cliveden", 87 photos, 14 color transparencies, 17 measured drawings, 12 data pages, 7 photo caption pages
- Exterior view of the building at the Library of Congress
- YouTube, Growing Up at Cliveden
- Benjamin Chew, Esq. A site dedicated to emerging research on Benjamin Chew, Esq.