The developer of the Pennsbury Village project has offered to move the house to township property, but the supervisors have made no decision yet.
By Rich Schwartzman
The fate of the Hope House in Pennsbury Township remains up in the air.
The house is the building on Route 1 just to the west of the township building property. It’s currently home to the retail shop, La Maison.
It sits on an 8-plus acre parcel that’s part of the Pennsbury Village project. Townhouses are planned for the site and the building has to go to make way for the project. It can either be moved or demolished, but supervisors haven’t decided on which.
Removing the house from the property — one way or another — is part of the stipulation agreement between the township and the developer allowing for the village plan.
Developer Tim Filler — who bought the property 14 years ago — has offered to move the house to township property where it would be boarded up with no plumbing or utility connections made.
When asked how a demolition would sit with him, Filler said, “It’s not my choice; it’s the township’s choice.”
But the supervisors are undecided, despite a July deadline. Right now it’s a matter of what it would cost the township to maintain a mothballed structure.
“We’re not quite sure yet what costs would be acceptable,” said Supervisors’ Chairman Aaron McIntyre. “That’s a discussion [the supervisors] still have to have together.”
And so far they don’t know what the cost might be.
McIntyre said he would like some Planning Commission members to help out in that determination. He was also going to make some calls himself to see if he can get some ideas on costs for long-term mothballing.
“Not just for mothballing something very short-term, but keeping a house mothballed year after year where you might need to limit moisture, replace a roof, things of that sort, things beyond just six months or a year or two-year shutting up of the place.”
McIntyre said he would like to find a way to keep the house, not to see it demolished. The dating of the house isn’t a factor as far as McIntyre is concerned. “My inclination is to preserve it,” he said, “but I think costs need to be considered. Barring costs being prohibitive, I would be inclined to preserve it.
Architect Margot Leach, a member of the Pennsbury Township Planning Commission and chairman of the Hope House Task Force, said she has just begun to investigate what it would cost to preserve the house, but has no figures yet.
No one is quite sure how old the house is. There is a discrepancy based on the interpretation of the house’s documentation. Some people think the house was built in 1802 while others interpret the papers to indicate it was built between 1725 and 1749. McIntyre said the exact age of the house doesn’t matter to him.
According to Leach, the general Task Force position is for the 18th century dates, while the 19th century date comes from the interpretation of Eileen Scottoline, another member of the task force, and an archivist at Chester County Archives.
Noted architect John Milner also toured the house.
“Definitive proof is not in the house,” he said.
According to Milner, one key clue to dating a structure is original woodwork, but there’s not enough remaining to make a firm determination. However, he added that the pitch of the roof is consistent with early 18th century construction.
The stipulation agreement was sign in April of 2011. It allows for 111 housing units, both single and attached, on 18 acres of land on either side of the township building property and on Hickory Hill Road. The proposed development was controversial for more than a dozen years and generated several lawsuits. It originally called for a multi-use district before being limited to housing only.
