An 18th-century Georgian-style manor, the William Peters House, rests these days on 22 acres just outside central Chadds Ford in Chester County, but it began in more humble surroundings, in Bethel Township, Delaware County, writes Ben Silver for Main Line Today.
Built in 1750, the manor was a former farmhouse on a side road in Chelsea. The once-thriving community had been reduced to a four-way intersection in the mid-20th century.
It was once part of Arrowhead Farm, where Henry and Marie Harvey raised Aberdeen Angus cattle, possibly the last beef farm of its kind in Delaware County.
By 1963, the home was in decay, damaged by fire in 1961 and considered uninhabitable. There was fallen plaster, and it was covered with mold, mushrooms, and broken glass.
In September 1963, Judy and John Herdeg purchased the house and began a two-year project to rebuild the house piece by piece, restoring it to its 18th-century splendor on a new plot of land in Chadds Ford.
In 1972, the home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1994, an orangery was added, with heated terracotta floors, a large fireplace, a bar, and a brick patio with a screened-in porch.
Read more about the William Peters Houise and its unique history in Main Line Today.
