Painter's Folly is an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

historic house located in

Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania Chadds Ford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester counties, Pennsylvania, United States, comprising the Unincorporated area, unincorporated communities of Chadds F ...

, United States. Purchased by the township in 2018 with the intention of preserving it and turning into a museum, the house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2024.

Description and history

Painter's Folly was built by a wealthy local farmer named Samuel Painter in 1856, soon after he returned from travels in Europe. The house's ornate Italianate design inspired neighbors to brand it "Painter's Folly." The three-story house spans 58,000 square feet and sits on a four-acre property adjoining the

Brandywine Battlefield The Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site is a National Historic Landmark, National Historical Landmark. The historic park is owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, on , near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Chadds For ...

. Painter's nephew,

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator, Painting, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life ...

, rented the house as a summer residence, where for years he hosted

Brandywine School The Brandywine School was a style of illustration—as well as an artists colony in Wilmington, Delaware and in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, near the Brandywine River—both founded by artist Howard Pyle (1853–1911) at the end of the 19th centu ...

artists' gatherings and mentored artists, including

N. C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

. Wyeth's son,

Andrew Wyeth Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an American visual artist and one of the best-known American artists of the middle 20th century. Though he considered himself to be an "abstractionist," Wyeth was primarily a realis ...

, later depicted the house in several of his paintings, including ''Painter's Folly'' (1989) and ''Widow's Walk'' (1990).

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania 1856 establishments in Pennsylvania Andrew Wyeth Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania Historic house museums in Pennsylvania Houses in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Italianate architecture in Pennsylvania Museums in Delaware County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Houses completed in 1856