Ivyland Historic District

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

The Ivyland Historic District is a historic district in Ivyland, Bucks County, covering about 42 acres and including 133 contributing buildings. Its buildings range from Late Victorian styles such as Gothic Revival, Second Empire and Italianate to later Dutch Colonial Revival and American Foursquare houses.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 2002 under criterion C, with local significance in architecture. The nomination gives its period of significance as 1873 to 1931, beginning in 1873 when Edwin Lacey bought 40 acres and construction began.

Physical character

Walls are wood, weatherboard or shingle, set on brick foundations, under roofs of slate or asphalt. Roofs vary between gambrel, mansard, hip and front-gable forms, and many houses have wraparound porches with decorative brackets or bracketed cornices. Outbuildings include frame garages, a carriage house and a frame shop. Fire led to rebuilding twice, in 1893 by builder William Henry Barton and in 1938 on the site of an 1895 house, and later alterations included a 1971 garage remodeling, a 1972 church enlargement, and further changes in 1980.

Historical context

The North Penn Railroad laid track through the area in 1872, and Lacey bought 40 acres here in 1873 to start the village, with regular rail service beginning in 1874. Lacey sold off his Ivyland holdings in 1879. The Ivyland School was dedicated in 1895, and the village was incorporated as Ivyland borough in 1903.