Randolph House | |
 Randolph House, renamed Laurel Hill Mansion | |
    | |
| Location | East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°59′29″N75°11′42″W / 39.99139°N 75.19500°W |
| Area | Less than one acre |
| Built | c. 1767 |
| Architectural style | Georgian / Federal |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001169 [1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1972 |
| Designated PRHP | June 26, 1956 |
Randolph House, also known as Laurel Hill Mansion, is a historic mansion in east Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
There are conflicting histories about the origins of the home. Some sources claim that it was built by Joseph Shute in 1748 after which it was purchased by Francis Rawle for use as his family's summer retreat. Other sources, including the organization that manages the home, state that the land where the house sits was purchased by Francis Rawle in 1760 and, after Rawle was killed in a shooting accident in 1761, his wife, Rebecca, proceeded with plans to build Laurel Hill. [2] [3] [4] Francis and Rebecca had three children together; Anna, William, and Margaret. [3]
Rebecca married Samuel Shoemaker who would later become mayor of Philadelphia. [2] [3] The Shoemakers retained multiple residences including Laurel Hill. Samuel Shoemaker was a British Loyalist and fled to England to avoid arrest. Laurel Hill was seized and sold at auction. [2]
Major James Parr purchased the home and leased it to French Prime Minister, the Chevalier de la Luzern. [5]
Rebecca was able to reclaim the home by 1791. [2] Rebecca died in 1819 and her son, William, inherited the home. William sold the home to Philadelphia surgeon Dr. Philip Syng Physick. Physick's daughter, Sally Randolph, inherited the house upon his death, at which time it became known as the Randolph Mansion, or Randolph House. [5]
The house was renamed Laurel Hill Mansion in 1976 by the City of Philadelphia during the United States Bicentennial.
The central portion of the house was built around 1767 in the Georgian style and expanded in the early 19th century with a one-story addition on the south side. The octagonally-shaped Federal style addition on the north side was built in 1846. [6]
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1972. [7]
Laurel Hill Mansion is managed by the nonprofit organization, Women for Greater Philadelphia, Inc. The organization hosts social and fundraising events at the home. [4]
Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha). Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.
Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish from West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
Belmont Mansion is a historic mansion located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Built in the early 18th century, the mansion is one of the finest examples of Palladian architecture in the United States. Since 2007, the mansion has hosted the Underground Railroad Museum.
Historic Strawberry Mansion is a summer home in East Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Built between 1783 and 1789 by Judge William Lewis, it was originally named Summerville.
Woodford is a historic mansion at Ford Road and Greenland Drive in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built c. 1756, it is the first of Philadelphia's great colonial Georgian mansion houses to be built, and exemplifies the opulence of such houses. A National Historic Landmark, it now a historic house museum open to the public.
Historic RittenhouseTown, sometimes referred to as Rittenhouse Historic District, encompasses the remains of an early industrial community which was the site of the first paper mill in British North America. The mill was built in 1690 by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas on the north bank of Paper Mill Run near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The district, off Lincoln Drive near Wissahickon Avenue in Fairmount Park, includes six of up to forty-five original buildings. RittenhouseTown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark District on April 27, 1992.
Mount Pleasant is a historic mansion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, atop cliffs overlooking the Schuylkill River. It was built about 1761–62 in what was then the countryside outside the city by John Macpherson and his wife Margaret. Macpherson was a privateer, or perhaps a pirate, who had had "an arm twice shot off" according to John Adams. He named the house "Clunie" after the ancient seat of his family's clan in Scotland.
Sweetbriar is a Neoclassical mansion in the Federal style built in 1797 in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The mansion was built by Samuel Breck and named for the roses that grew on the property. The interior includes a double parlor and floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping views of the Schuylkill River. Period pieces include Chinese armorial porcelain, Hepplewhite and Sheraton style chairs, and Adam style furniture. Wedgwood jasperware and fireplaces with delicate plaster decorations were influenced by discoveries in the ancient houses of Pompeii. Bird prints by John James Audubon and paintings by William Birch decorate the walls.
Lemon Hill is a Federal-style mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, built from 1799 to 1800 by Philadelphia merchant Henry Pratt. The house is named after the citrus fruits that Pratt cultivated on the property in the early 19th century.
Chamounix is a historic home located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Federal-style house was built in 1802 by George Plumsted who was a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, then enlarged to nearly double its original size by subsequent owners after 1853. Chamounix is a 2½-story stuccoed stone dwelling measuring 45 feet (14 m) long and 47 feet (14 m) deep, featuring a hipped roof with dormers and a porch on three sides with decorative iron supports. The house served as a country retreat until it was appropriated by the state via eminent domain in 1869 to become a part of Fairmount Park, from which time it was used in various ways including as a boarding house, a restaurant, and a refreshment stand. After years of neglect and then fire damage, the Fairmount Park Commission decided to demolish Chamounix; however, a committee of the former American Youth Hostels successfully petitioned to save it and, since 1964, it has served as an international youth hostel.
Francis Rawle, originally from England, was a Quaker and colonist in Philadelphia, where he served in administrative positions and was a member of the assembly.
Boelson Cottage is a Dutch and Swedish-style colonial era cottage located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The 1+1⁄2-story gambrel-roofed fieldstone cottage was built sometime between 1678 and 1684. The cottage is situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill River within a plot of 100 acres (40 ha) of land granted to John Boelson in 1677 by the Swedish colonial court in Upland, Pennsylvania. Boelson's cottage is the oldest extant structure in Fairmount Park.
Cedar Grove Mansion, located in west Fairmount Park, was the summer residence for five generations of Philadelphia families. The house was built as a rural retreat from city life, and was originally located within the present day Frankford neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, about 4 mi (6.4 km) beyond the colonial-era city limits. In 1746, Elizabeth Coates Paschall purchased the property on which the house was subsequently built. Paschall was a widow with three children who had inherited her husband's dry goods business and desired a rural retreat from the city near her father's farm in Frankford. Construction of the grey stone house on a plot of 15 acres (6.1 ha) along Frankford Road began in 1748 and continued to 1750.
Ormiston Mansion is a 2+1⁄2-story, red brick, late Georgian period house located in east Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The house was constructed in 1798 with a large wooden porch in front and a smaller porch in the rear. Many of the original interior features remain including fireplaces with marble mantles and a Scottish bake oven. The cedar shake roof includes a widow's walk and Federal-style dormers, while six large shuttered windows are on each side of the house, and five on the front. The first floor interior includes a large drawing room spanning the entire width of the house, a kitchen, and a dining room with a large door leading to the rear porch. The back of the house overlooks the Schuylkill River.
Ridgeland Mansion is an historic two-and-a-half story, gable-roofed house located in west Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The land was purchased by a yeoman named William Couch in 1718 and the current house was probably constructed sometime between 1752 and 1762.
The Rockland Mansion is a 2+1⁄2-story, Federal-style mansion that is located in east Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, overlooking the Schuylkill River.
The Solitude Mansion is an historic, American, two-and-a-half story Federal-style mansion at is located in west Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is situated above the banks of the Schuylkill River on the grounds of the Philadelphia Zoo.
Samuel Shoemaker was an American merchant and politician in Philadelphia. He was the mayor of Philadelphia from 1769 to 1771 and served in various positions in the city including councilman, member of the Provincial Assembly, Justice of the Peace and treasurer from 1755 to 1778. Shoemaker was a committed British loyalist during the American Revolution.
Rebecca Warner Rawle Shoemaker (1730–1819) was an American woman whose journals provide insight into the issues of her day. She built the Randolph Mansion in Laurel Hill at a time when few women built mansions. The house continues to be occupied.
