National Register of Historic Places
Jacob Jr. Ehrenhardt House
Listed federally as Ehrenhardt, Jacob Jr., House
Emmanus, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
The record
- Listed
- May 18, 2017
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 55 S. Keystone Ave., Emmanus
- County
- Lehigh
- State
- Pennsylvania
- Period of significance
- 1800 to 1824
- Contributing resources
- 1 building
- Coordinates
- 40.53994, -75.48613
- Reference number
- 03001123
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 Jacob Jr. Ehrenhardt House is a stone dwelling at 55 S. Keystone Ave. in Emmanus, Lehigh County, built in 1803 in the Federal style.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register under criterion C, with local significance in architecture; its period of significance is 1803, the year it was built.
Physical character
Its walls are pointed coursed fieldstone on a fieldstone foundation, with a slate gambrel roof and a three-bay facade with a pedimented entrance, fanlight transom, and Palladian window. Inside, a side-hall plan leads to a stair with a turned balustrade, carved wood mantles, exposed joists, and a walk-in kitchen fireplace. In the 1950s the main parlor was divided into two bedrooms, indoor plumbing reached the stair hall, and the bake oven was reportedly removed; a 1980s restoration recovered original features.
Historical context
Jacob Ehrenhardt Jr., for whom the house is named, died in 1825, when the house was sold to satisfy family debts. John Heyl was the architect, and the East Penn Railroad laid tracks near the house in 1858. In 1975 Robert and Ardath Rodale, owners of Rodale Press, bought and restored the house; it was a museum at the time of its listing, having originally been a single-family dwelling.