One of Colerain Township's oldest historic homes will be open to the public early next month. The brick house built by Colonel Patterson Bell along the East Branch of the Octoraro Creek is being restored by owners Dr. William and Luanne Riddle. It is among the early homes built along the creek, from the village of Andrews Bridge south to what is now the Octoraro Reservoir. Many have been preserved and several in and near the village were restored over the past dozen years.
The Patterson Bell house, which looks over the site of the former Bellbank covered bridge, was built in 1801. Col. Bell, who led the 8th Battalion of Chester County Volunteers in the Battle of the Brandywine, bought the property the following year. He built the house to replace an earlier home. One feature of the previous house, the fireplace surround in the larger upstairs bedroom, came from that home. Until the early 20th century, the property also included a mill that ground grain, sawed wood, and made paper. At about the same time, wealthy residents of the Philadelphia area began buying the properties, using them for foxhunting and turning them into weekend farms. The Riddles bought the home and the 70 acres surrounding it in 2007. They had been urging some of Dr. Riddle's clients to purchase the property, but were unable to find someone to buy it. "Then Doc fell in love with the place and we bought it," she said. "It's built in the classic Lancaster County L-shape, with a shed roof on one side." Although the house had a new roof when they bought it, little else had been done to the building. "It had been preserved by neglect. The plaster was falling off the bricks [in the rooms] and some of the chimneys had caved in," she recalled. "The bricks in the chimneys were blistered from many chimney fires. "We had to shore up the foundation and all of the electric was the old knob and tube wiring. We had to have all that taken out and put in safe wiring. It was a big job." Some of the window sills had also rotted, although the coffin doors under the ground floor windows were intact. Those doors reach from the bottom of the window to the floor and can be opened to allow access to the front porch. They also make it possible to move a coffin into one of the rooms for a home funeral. The Riddles have also had the plaster walls restored and are having all the rooms painted. The property is among those along the creek that have conservation easements. The home, which is eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Homes, is one of 14 properties on the seventh annual Southern End House and History Tour. This year's tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 4. and will include 13 additional locations Also on this year's tour in southern Lancaster County are: Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, White Rock Rd., Kirkwood. John Girvin will be the host. Stan White and Mike Roth will have information about the history of White Rock and the area around the Octoraro Lake. White Rock covered bridge, which links White Rock Rd. in Colerain Township with King Pen Rd. in Little Britain Township. Pillar Pride Farm, 627 King Pen Rd., Little Britain Township. Ashville Bible Chapel, 842 Ashville Rd., Little Britain Township. John Yost will have information about the Underground Railroad in the area in the years before the Civil War. The Robert Fulton Birthplace, 1932 Robert Fulton Highway, Fulton Township. The Pine Grove covered bridge, linking Ashville Rd. in Little Britain Township with Forge Rd. in Lower Oxford Township. In southern Chester County, the following locations will be on the tour: The Octoraro Art Association, 5965 Forge Rd., Lower Oxford Township. The association's building is owned by the Chester Water Authority. It was built in 1906 as a pumping station for the Octoraro Water Company, which provided water for steam locomotives using Pennsylvania Railroad's Low Grade line. Dave Eldreth's art studio, 5341 Forge Rd., Oxford. Wilson Vineyard, 4374 Forge Rd., Nottingham. Sally Wilson's art gallery will be open. Kim Kris Farm, 40 Sand Hill Rd., off Lees Bridge Rd., Nottingham. The Blackburn/Sapp house, 279 Glenroy Rd., Nottingham. Union United Methodist Church, 321 Fremont Rd., Nottingham. Susan Highfield and Dorothy Freese will have information about the free black Parker sisters, who were kidnapped by slave catchers and sold as slaves. Oxford Bible Chapel, 800 Bethel Rd., off Rt. 472, Lower Oxford Township. In its early years, the building served a Presbyterian congregation and then was home to Mt. Vernon Mennonite Church. Jim Koterski will discuss and show examples of local redware and stoneware. Day of the tour tickets at $18 for adults and $10 for children will be available at this location. Advance tickets will be $15 for adults and $8 for children and are available at Erma's Flowers, 12 E. State St., Quarryville, during regular business hours; Oxford Paint & Wallpaper, 340 S. Third St., Oxford, during regular business hours; and the Southern Lancaster County Historical Society, 1932 Robert Fulton Highway, from 9 a.m. until noon on Wednesdays. Funds from the tour will help the historical society maintain the Robert Fulton Birthplace and the nearby archives. Comments are closed.
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