The development of the Pennsylvania farmhouse type in Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania

Abstract

The Pennsylvania farmhouse, with its four-bav symmetrical fenestration and occasional use of double doors, once dominated the architectural landscape of south-central Pennsylvania. Its long-lasting popularity and connection with the Pennsylvania-German community have encouraged scholarly attention in the past, resulting in conflicting theories that describe the house type's development. Using frameworks provided by the contrasting theories of Henry Glassie and Henry Kauffman, this study examines the development of the Pennsylvania farmhouse type in Manchester Township. York County. Pennsylvania. ☐ Manchester Township, an area located within the Pennsylvania Culture Region, has undergone changes brought about by settlement, trade, and transportation since its formation in 1742. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and both modem and historic maps, fifty-one dwelling houses believed to be constructed before 1860 were surveyed. A select group of these houses merited detailed examination. This included measured drawings, sketches, as well as a biographical look at previous owners. This resulted in a better understanding of the variety of interior room arrangements found within the type, as well as a more complete context based upon the lives of the families who constructed the houses. ☐ Manchester Township provides evidence that Glassie and Kauffman correctly described different points in the development of the Pennsylvania farmhouse type. Both theories, however, suppress the importance that the house type's exterior had on the vernacular designer. Vernacular architectural design has been regarded as a process dominated by concerns of interior space in which abstracted ideas of interior room arrangement become the basic elements that shape the development of new house types. Unlike many other vernacular dwelling house types, the Pennsylvania farmhouse type is defined by its exterior shell. ☐ The study of Manchester Township's farmhouse architecture reveals that vernacular designers used the exterior of their houses to moderate cultural changes. The rapid acceptance of the four-bay symmetrical facade created a distinctive architectural identity for the region, one compatible with varying modes promoted by ethnicity, nationalism, fashion, and progress. In this manner, vernacular builders maintained regional cohesion through the repetition of this new facade while permitting a variety of interior spatial arrangements.