The Garrett House
Built ca. 1722 - 1735, with Additions
Constructed of Serpentine Stone

Above: The Garrett House, now the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus
This farmhouse was built ca. 1722 - 1735 by Joseph Garrett, Sr. and Mary (Sharples) Garrett sometime after their marriage in 1722. Later additions reflect the growth of the Garrett family, who lived here until ca. 1900.
The Garretts were active in the local Quaker Meeting. Benjamin Garrett was also in charge of the Quaker school in 1828. The house has been renovated to serve as a meeting place for the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry. It was named in honor of prominent Chester County businessman, John H. Ware.

Above: The central block of the Garrett Farmhouse at Goshenville is ell-shaped. It faces southwest, with an end-gabled roof. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus

Above: The Garrett House and grounds. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus
This site was part of a 755-acre parcel granted to Griffith Owens from William Penn in 1703. In 1715, Samuel Garrett of Upper Darby purchased a 33-acre parcel of land here. This Garrett family had emigrated to Pennsylvania from Leicestershire, England. Samuel Garrett passed that land and 250 additional acres to his son, Joseph Garrett I, who built this Garrett House with wife Mary (Sharples) Garrett.

 The House’s Building Stone
Serpentine Stone:

 Above: The house’s serpentine building stone has a characteristic greenish hue. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus

 Chester County Serpentine Bedrock
On an 1880 Geology Map:

  Above: Image source: Geological Map of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1880, David Rumsey Map Collection
This 1880 map reveals that one of the largest outcrops of serpentine stone in Chester County is located here at Goshenville and Willistown. The county’s largest serpentine area is near Nottingham: the State Line Serpentine Barrens. The Nottingham area represents one of the largest intact serpentine barrens in the eastern United States. The primary bedrock of the Goshenville area consists primarily of Baltimore Gneiss, which also served as a principal building stone, in addition to serpentine.

 West Chester, PA
A Center of Serpentine Buildings

West Chester has been a historic Chester County capital of serpentine stone quarries and buildings. The region is bordered on three sides by historic serpentine quarries, including Brinton’s to the southwest and Taylor’s to the north. In this area many old farmhouses can be found made of serpentine from local quarries.
Chester County builders used serpentine as building stone since the earliest settlements. Green serpentine buildings then became fashionable from 1870 through the 1890s. The map’s purple shading indicates Baltimore Gneiss which is also a primary building stone for this area.

 Above: A gable end of the Garrett House. The masonry displays a variety of brown hues, derived from a combination of weathered Baltimore Gneiss and oxidized serpentine stone. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus

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