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Cedar Grove Mansion

Philadelphia, Italy

Cedar Grove Mansion

Cedar Grove Mansion, located in west Fairmount Park, was the summer residence for five generations of Philadelphia families. The house was built as a rural retreat from city life, and was originally located within the present day Frankford neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, about 4 mi (6.4 km)

beyond the colonial-era city limits. In 1746, Elizabeth Coates Paschall purchased the property on which the house was subsequently built. Paschall was a widow with three children who had inherited her husband's dry goods business and desired a rural retreat from the city near her father's farm in Frankford. Construction of the grey stone house on a plot of 15 acres (6.1 ha) along Frankford Road began in 1748 and continued to 1750. Additions were made by Paschall and succeeding generations. A granddaughter named Sarah inherited the house, married Isaac Wistar Morris in 1795, and doubled the size of Cedar Grove with more rooms and a third floor. A wraparound porch was added later. Various architectural styles such as Baroque, Rococo, and Federal are evident in the interior rooms. Lydia Thompson Morris, the last of the family to own Cedar Grove, gave the house and original furniture to the city...

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