George Douglass House

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 George Douglass House is a stone dwelling at 19 Old Philadelphia Pike in Amity Township, Berks County, built c. 1763 in the Georgian and Federal styles.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criterion C and criteria consideration G, with local-level significance in architecture. The nomination gives its period of significance as about 1763 to 1833, reflecting the house's original construction and the one-story addition and stone rear porch added around 1833.

Physical character

The walls are sandstone, laid as coursed ashlar on the facade, over a sandstone foundation and a wood shingle gable roof. The house grew in stages, gaining a two-story store wing around 1800, a one-story section and stone rear porch around 1833, a renovated southeast room around 1865, and a reinforced front facade and enlarged kitchen around 1900. Inside are paneled mantelpieces, corner cupboards, a balustered staircase, paneled wainscot, window seats, a plaster cove cornice, a Palladian window and stone jack arches.

Historical context

The Douglass family ran a country store and residence there from about 1760 to 1833, including a store business around 1800. Around 1835 a right-of-way across the property passed to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the house was later rented out from 1944 to 1966.