“Keith Mansion”

(click to enlarge)

The estate originally known as Fountain Low served as the grounds for this historic house. The Keith Mansion sure has seen its fair share of history.

This stone mason house was built in 1722 for Sir William Keith, Provincial Governor of Pennsylvania. The following year, Keith met a 17-year-old run away from Boston. Although the adolescence seemed young, Keith said he “appear'd a young man of promising parts” and therefore encouraged a young Benjamin Franklin to set up in Philadelphia as a printer. In 1726, Governor Keith was removed from office after a dispute with the Penn family.

Keith’s stepdaughter, Anne Diggs and her husband Dr. Thomas Graeme purchased the property in 1739. It has since been known as Graeme Park. Dr. Graeme was not only a respected doctor, but also served as Port Physician for the city of Philadelphia and Judge of the Supreme Court. He wanted a summer residence where he could entertain in a place that reflected his social status. Although he could not modify the stone exterior, Dr. Graeme was determined to remodel the interior to the popular English style the of day. Marble and ceramic tiles lined the fireplaces while detailed paneling was installed in many of the rooms.

At the time of Graeme’s death in 1722, Keith Mansion was willed to his only surviving daughter, Elizabeth. Extremely well educated, Elizabeth Graeme hosted the first literary gatherings. Following a miserable courtship with William Franklin (son of Benjamin), she married Henry Hugh Fergusson, a British soldier during occupation of Philadelphia. After the British left Philadelphia, Fergusson never saw his wife again and returned to England.

Being that Elizabeth was the wife of a traitor, the property was confiscated by the Colonial government. High profile friends helped her regain the estate in 1781. Growing debts and declining health forced her to sell the estate to her nephew, Dr. William Smith. In 1801, when Elizabeth died, a Quaker family by the name of Penrose bought the grounds. They lived in the mansion until 1821 when a new home and barn on the property were completed. The Penrose family protected the Keith Mansion and became the first to give tours of the house.

About 100 years later, in 1920, the land was bought by Welsh Strawbridge and he moved his family into the Penrose family house. Using the grounds wisely, they raised thoroughbred horses and farmed. Strawbridge and his family maintained the mansion, only using it for family parties. Strawbridge gave the property to The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in 1958, securing its continued preservation.

Today the Keith House, along with the other historic buildings in Graeme Park, stand tall and are open to the public for tours.

For more information on Graeme Park, please visit their website at:
www.graemepark.org

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Photographer's Guide (EXIF):
Camera: Canon Rebel T-6
Aperture: F11
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Bias: 0
Focal Length: 18mm
Mode: Manual
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