I had the opportunity to tour the historic Samuel T. Brownlee House late last month when the Washington County Community Foundation sponsored a rare Open House there in honor of the 175th anniversary of its construction. Located in Eighty Four, Pa., on the southwest side of Route 519 just north of the roundabout with the Thomas-84 Road, the mansion is a well-known district landmark.
The Brownlee family moved to this area in the period between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution and quickly developed a prosperous farm on this site. Twenty-one year old Samuel T. Brownlee took advantage of this prosperity to construct a handsome home there for his new bride, Catharine H. Clark in 1848 – shades of Jonathan Middleswarth and Becky McKown! Fortunately for Mr. Brownlee, Ms. Clark went through with the wedding and they lived happily ever after. Although it passed through several other owners down through the years, it was always lovingly maintained. Its owner in 1967, Mr. Charles M. Miller added a wing behind the main building. He also, in 1972, quarterbacked the effort to have it added to the National Register of Historic Places. William Stout purchased the house in 1986 and used it as headquarters for his Atlas Railroad Construction Company. In 2013 he and his wife Saundra graciously donated the property to the Washington County Community Foundation. The Foundation’s ultimate goal for the building is to create a multi-purpose facility that will include Scotch-Irish Heritage Rooms, an educational facility, and offices for the Foundation.
The main building is a classic two-and-a half-story center-hall house of the Georgian-Greek Revival style that was popular at the time it was built. Faced with red brick, its front is covered by a full width veranda with a roof supported by six large Ionic columns. The hybrid result is much more satisfying than one would first suspect. Eminent architectural historian James D. van Trump, in his recommendation supporting the National Register nomination, reported “The Brownlee House is one of the best preserved and well-maintained formal Georgian-Greek Revival Houses in Washington County”.
The wide center hall includes a foyer at the front, with steps to the upper floors beginning about halfway back on the left. Its furnishings reflect the Brownlee family’s Scottish heritage – a swag of the ancient hunting tartan of the Hamilton Clan (the Brownlees’ kinship group), a lovely nineteenth century painting of the Scottish Highlands, and a custom floor cloth with thistle (the Scottish national emblem) borders. Two rooms flank the center hall – a parlor in the front with a music room behind it on the right, and a dining room and kitchen on the left side.
The front parlor takes its inspiration from the American Empire Period (1820-1860). I particularly liked the two-century old “grandfather’s clock” that, sadly, is not currently operative. Other interesting artifacts include a handsome secretary desk, an antique barometer/thermometer, and period portraits. Immediately behind the parlor is the Rococo Revival-inspired Music Room (1850-1870). A Chickering Square Grand Piano (circa 1855) dominates the room. When I was there, a young man was playing “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo”. A copy of Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier” was on top of the piano; I would have preferred hearing it on such an antique instrument. Also in the room was a custom-built thirty-six string harp, complete with a thistle carved into its base. The harp is Scotland’s traditional national instrument.
On the other side of the center hall, the dining room is inspired by the Federal Period (1780-1810), a style that predates the Brownlee House. Its furniture is similar to the classical Thomas Sheraton style. Cut glass decanters paid homage to the early glass industry in Western Pennsylvania, as did paintings of sheep to the Brownlees’ agricultural heritage. A glass celery dish filled with water and stalks of celery, indicative of the wealth of the family, graced the center of the dining room table. I’m not sure what an armless statue to Venus de Milo added to the décor. The focal point of the kitchen was a cast-iron cook stove. There was an impressive display of Caledonia “transferware” plates and platters, so-called because their scenes of the Scottish Highlands were transferred onto the chinaware. The kitchen was filled with appropriate items for an early nineteenth century rural home – pewter dishes, a candle mold, a grain bin, and an early percussion shotgun.
The second floor had a similar layout, with two rooms on each side of a center hall. At this time, these rooms are not furnished as period pieces; they are used by the Community Foundation as office space. Stairs lead to a third floor where a long, transverse room is nested under the roof. I suspect the long-range plans for the Brownlee House include extending the period furnishings to these upper floors.
The extension to the original house is currently used as part of the Foundation’s headquarters; scattered throughout it are additional interesting bits of artwork. I was thrilled to see Malcolm Purcell’s “Riders to Fairmont Church”, an excellent depiction of a covered bridge and a group of horsemen riding up a country road. I suspect the bridge in the painting is the “Plants Bridge” which is still in existence, although no longer in use. I also liked the numerous prints of Robert Howard’s paintings of Western Pennsylvania scenes.
We are grateful to the Washington County Community Foundation for their outstanding stewardship in maintaining this fine building and its furnishings and especially for making it available to the general public with this Open House. It was very well attended, a harbinger that there will be many future opportunities of this type.