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William Chalfonte House

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1884, attributed to Furness and Evans. 220 N. Union St.
  • (© George E. Thomas)

Despite Kennett Square's sleepy eighteenth-century demeanor, most of its buildings date from after the Civil War when the railroad brought an expansion of the commercial district. A principal developer was William Chalfonte, who built the commercial block on State Street with serpentinite quoins in 1882 and followed almost immediately with his own idiosyncratic house just to the north of the village center. It is a central-hall plan with massive chimneys at each end recalling the eighteenth century. But what chimneys these muscular fists are that animate the three wings. Within, fireplace overmantels are supported by wrought iron—the material of the new age and that connects it to numerous other Furness houses of the 1880s. The carriage house to the rear also shows the hallmarks of the Furness office.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
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Data

What's Nearby

Kennett Friends Meetinghouse
Longwood Gardens
Auburn Heights
Cloud's Farm
Old Kennett Meetinghouse

Citation

George E. Thomas, "William Chalfonte House", [Kennett Square, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-CH3.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 2

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 241-241.

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