Welkinweir

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

Welkinweir is an estate at 1368 Prizer Rd. in East Nantmeal Township, Chester County, listed in the National Register in 2001. Its Colonial Revival mansion, designed by architect Fridtjof Tobiessen, was built in 1939-1940, and the property has a stone house of about 1830.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in architecture, conservation and other areas. Its period of significance runs from 1935 to 1951, reflecting Grace and Everett Rodebaugh's 1935 purchase and their 1939-1940 construction of the mansion and ponds.

Physical character

The mansion has stone foundations and walls under a slate roof, with a gambrel roof, a Palladian window, a widow's walk and six chimneys. The grounds hold eight graduated man-made ponds behind a stone spillway and dam breast, with a stone springhouse and three-car garage.

Historical context

Samuel Rea bought an early iron tilt forge on the property in 1791, and William Morris came to work there in 1827; Edwin Morris took over the farm and mill in 1855. The Rodebaughs bought the farm in 1935 and brought an ornamental nursery from Delaware to Welkinweir in 1939. The Rodebaughs organized the Green Valleys Association in 1967, and ownership passed to it in 1999.