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The Highlands

Pennsylvania, US

The Highlands

The Highlands is a historic building and property located near Fort Washington, Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The Highlands was built in 1794-1796 by Philadelphia merchant and politician Anthony Morris (1766-1860), and was designed by Philadelphia politi

cian Timothy Matlack (1730-1829). It is a large 2+1⁄2-story, dressed fieldstone structure in the late Georgian style. The front facade features two, two-story, Ionic order pilasters. Morris was the speaker of the Pennsylvania senate, and had signed the bill authorizing troops to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. He was also a director of the Bank of North America (1800-1806) and a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania (1806-1817). From 1810 to 1814, he was President James Madison's unofficial envoy to Spain. Morris sold the property to Daniel Hittner (1765-1841) in 1808. In the five years that Hittner owned the estate, he accumulated 300+ additional acres. In 1813, it was sold to wine merchant George Sheaff (1779-1851). After Sheaff's death, the heirs sold off the majority of the estate, leaving a mere 59 acres (240,000 m2) remaining with Sheaff's grandson, John. In 1917, after the...

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