The Thomas Leiper Estate, also known as Avondale, is an historic, American estate that is located in Wallingford in
Nether Providence Township
Nether Providence Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Many residents refer to the township by the name of its largest community, Wallingford, because the Wallingford postal code is used for most of the towns ...
,
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylv ...
.
It was added to 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 1971.
History and architectural features
Built by
Thomas Leiper
Thomas Leiper (15 December 1745 – 6 July 1825) was a Scottish American businessman, banker and politician who owned a successful tobacco exportation business as well as several mills and stone quarries. He served as a lieutenant in the First T ...
circa 1785, this historic estate was named Strath Haven after Leiper's birthplace in
Strathaven
Strathaven ( ; from ) is a historic market town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and is the largest settlement in Avondale. It is south of Hamilton. The Powmillon Burn runs through the town centre, and joins the Avon Water to the east of the to ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, and includes a three-story, yellow-
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
ed mansion house, a "Fireproof" vault, a communal
outhouse
An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...
, a barn, a
carriage house
A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...
, a
smokehouse
A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more. ''Note:'' This includes Two local schools,
Strath Haven High School
Strath Haven High School (also abbreviated as SHHS) is a four-year public high school in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Wallingford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, enrolling about 1,200 students. SHHS is the only high s ...
and Strath Haven Middle School, are named for the estate.
It was added to 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 1971.
The Friends of the Leiper House offers weekend guided tours of the house from April through December.
Gallery
Leiper estate bank.jpg, Fireproof vault
Thomas Leiper Estate 8 seater.jpg, "Necessary", seats eight
Memorial Plaque at Thomas Leiper Estate.jpg, Commemorative Plaque at Thomas Leiper Estate
Strath Haven High School
Strath Haven High School (also abbreviated as SHHS) is a four-year public high school in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, Wallingford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, enrolling about 1,200 students. SHHS is the only high s ...