Penrose Strawbridge Farm at Graeme Park

The estate initially known as Fountain Low has a long history. It was initially developed by colonial deputy governor Sir William Keith and then by Keith's son-in-law. Dr. Thomas Graeme who renamed it Graeme Park.. Keith was a minor nobleman, Baron of Novia Scotia, and had persistent financial problems. 17 year old Benjamin Franklin had a bad experience with him but in his autobiography described him "He wished to please everybody, and, having little to give, he gave expectations. He was otherwise an ingenious, sensible man, a pretty good writer, and a good governor for the people, tho' not for his constituents, the proprietaries, whose instructions he sometimes disregarded. Several of our best laws were of his planning and passed during his administration.."¹⁰⁹ The proprietor, Hannah Penn (widow of William Penn), finally dismissed Keith in 1726. He left the colony, fleeing creditors 2 years later and died in England.

Dr Graeme acquired Fountain Low in 1739 long after Keith had returned to England. Graeme was a Judge of the Supreme Court, and Port Physician for the city of Philadelphia and was married to Keith's step-daughter Ann Diggs. Dr Graeme used the estate as a summer residence and entertained many of Philadelphia's elite there. The interior of the Keith mansion may not have even been finished when he purchased the property, there is speculation that the building may have originally been designed as an industrial building, but Graeme remodeled it to reflect the current English style and taste of the mid 1700s. Elaborate paneling was installed in several rooms and fine marble and imported ceramic delft tiles graced the fireplaces. ¹²⁵

Graeme's daughter Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson was called the most learned woman in America and was briefly engaged to the son of Benjamin Franklin. After a trip abroad she introduced the European Literary Salon to the colonies. Graeme Park was used as an encampment for several Revolutionary War armies the winter of 1777-78 including that of Mad Anthony Wayne, and is rumored to have been a place that General Washington was fond of visiting - at least until Elizabeth delivered a letter demanding his surrender. After surviving a threat from the new Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to confiscate the estate (based on Elizabeth's husband Hugh Fergusson having served as Commissar of Prisoners for the British and her role in the letter to Washington), she sold Graeme Park to her nephew. After her death in 1801 he sold the bulk of the estate to the Penrose family.

Penroses

The Penrose family bought Graeme Park in 1801 and lived in the Keith House until at least 1810 when William and Hannah Penrose added a 3 story addition to an existing cabin just south of the Keith House. This building, which we now call the Penrose-Strawbridge House, became home to successive generations of Penrose's followed by the Strawbridges in 1920. The Penroses added a second floor above the original cabin in 1830 and a rear kitchen in 1858. The front porch existed in the 19th century but was modified in the 1920s by the Strawbridges.

The Penroses also built 2 barns around 1839. Both still stand. One is now the Graeme Park Visitor's center, the other suffered a fire in 1949 and was rebuilt, but smaller. The Penroses also built a springhouse with an attached caretaker's cottage, a smaller 5 bay barn with workers rooms in a second floor above the end bays, and a carriage shed behind this building.

Welsh and Margaret Marshall Strawbridge purchased the property in 1920 and made major improvements to the farmhouse including adding indoor plumbing and central heating, stables and a pump house. Both Mr and Mrs Strawbridge came from well-established Philadelphia families. Mr Strawbridge, at the age of 40, was a retired financier. They raised thoroughbreds on the farm and he raced in steeplechases, winning 16.

The US Navy had taken over the nearby Pitcairn Field, swallowing up the village of Davis Grove and most of the neighboring Hallowell Farm in the 1940s and after World War II expanded the base and extended the runway to accommodate jets. The Strawbridges gave up some land for this expansion and were afraid of the base encroaching on the historic Keith House - which they and the Penroses had preserved.

The Strawbridges sold (for $1) the portion of the estate now known as Graeme Park to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1957 to guarantee its preservation. Mr. Strawbridge passed away in 1969. Mrs. Strawbridge, in 1987, sold a half-interest (the other half to be transferred upon her death) in the remaining 102 acres to the National Lands Trust for $1.00 in an effort to preserve the farm and the surrounding land. This agreement allowed Mrs. Strawbridge to live in the house for as long as she liked, and she continued to call the farm home until she died on November 16, 1996. The Natural Lands Trust was not interested in maintaining or restoring the buildings, but Horsham Township was - so on January 8,1997 the Township purchased the Penrose-Strawbridge farm from the Natural Lands Trust, with the stipulation that the property be used for open space and will not be used for further development of the Township. Horsham Township, in 2003, entered into a 25 year lease for 10 acres of this property including the buildings with HPHA for the purpose of restoration