From Philadelphia Country House to City Recreation Center: Uncovering the Architectural History of the Building Known Successively as Blockley Retreat, Kirkbride Mansion, and Lee Cultural Center Through Building Archaeology

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dc.contributor.authorMester, Joseph C
dc.date2023-05-17T14:10:32.000
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-22T19:47:35Z
dc.date.available2023-05-22T19:47:35Z
dc.date.issued2016-01-01
dc.date.submitted2016-05-20T12:05:32-07:00
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, I analyze the Federal style country house, initiated in 1794, that stands today near the corner of 44th Street and Haverford Avenue in West Philadelphia. As it aged, the owners and occupants slowly transformed the country house from a private “country seat” to a public recreation center in the midst of a dense urban neighborhood. I examine the house and its additions, known collectively today as the Lee Cultural Center, through both documentary and material evidence. This building-archaeological approach studies building materials, finishes, and construction technology in order to date and interpret the construction, alteration, use, and significance of remaining fabric. My study focuses on three important stratigraphic layers within the house. These correspond to the McConnell-Busti Country House period (1794-1824), the Kirkbride Family Residence period (1840-1883), and the Lee Cultural Center period (1957-present). This thesis argues that the distinct layers uncovered during building archaeology reveal a nationally significant story of a building in continuum. Never loudly advertised, the preservation and reuse strategies employed by the building’s stewards over the last 60 years offers a valuable counter-example to the more explicitly curatorial approaches taken to such buildings in Philadelphia and beyond. In the twenty-first century, this country house turned cultural center stands not only as a monument to its early occupants but also proof that a major change in use to suit new social needs does not need to equal the wholesale destruction of historic fabric.
dc.description.comments<p>Suggested Citation:</p> <p>Mester, Joseph C. (2016). <em>From Philadelphia Country House to City Recreation Center: Uncovering the Architectural History of the Building Known Successively as Blockley Retreat, Kirkbride Mansion, and Lee Cultural Center Through Building Archaeology</em>. (Masters Thesis). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.</p>
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/37146
dc.legacy.articleid1608
dc.legacy.fulltexturlhttps://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&amp;context=hp_theses&amp;unstamped=1
dc.source.issue598
dc.source.journalTheses (Historic Preservation)
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.subject.otherMill Creek
dc.subject.otherFederal style
dc.subject.otherHospital for the Insane
dc.subject.otheradaptive reuse
dc.subject.otherHarbeson Hough Livingston & Larson
dc.subject.otherArchitectural History and Criticism
dc.subject.otherHistoric Preservation and Conservation
dc.titleFrom Philadelphia Country House to City Recreation Center: Uncovering the Architectural History of the Building Known Successively as Blockley Retreat, Kirkbride Mansion, and Lee Cultural Center Through Building Archaeology
dc.typeDissertation/Thesis
digcom.contributor.authorMester, Joseph C
digcom.identifierhp_theses/598
digcom.identifier.contextkey8626953
digcom.identifier.submissionpathhp_theses/598
digcom.typethesis
dspace.entity.typePublication
upenn.schoolDepartmentCenterTheses (Historic Preservation)
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