![]() The log farmhouse's primary front door opens into a central hallway which is surrounded by a nonsymmetrical arrangement of interior rooms, including the Kueche (kitchen), Stube (stove room), and Arbeitsraum (work room).Īlthough this central hallways is suggestive of the English central hallways of Pennsylvania's Georgian houses, this hallway's DNA is more Germanic than British. The Floorplan: Durchgaengiges Haus įloorplan of the log farmhouse during its first period in the 1700s The four corner posts are tenoned into interlocking sill logs. Each corner has two interior diagonal braces. At each mortise and tenon is a chiseled-in guide symbol, consisting of a Roman numeral or other directional mark. The horizontal timbers are tenoned into mortises chiseled into the posts. The Hess log farmhouse originally had 33 vertical posts, of which most survive. These horizontals serve the same function as brick infill or wattle-and-daub filler in other half-timber framing. The horizontal timbers are for infill, rather than for load-bearing support. īlockstanderbau houses are, in effect, half-timbered houses. ![]() This Hess house is considered one of the most elaborate surviving examples of Blockstanderbau corner-post design. Most 18th century log houses in Pennsylvania used a V-notch for joining corners, rather than using corner posts. This corner-post design is unusual for historic Pennsylvania log houses. This form of post-and-beam construction is widespread throughout Germanic Europe. The log farmhouse at the Hess Homestead is constructed with a Germanic architectural technique known as Blockstanderbau, featuring vertical log corner posts, with many other vertical and diagonal timbers.Ĭolonial Pennsylvania house builders brought corner-post traditions with them from Europe. Clarke Hess spent several years restoring the buildings for use as his residence.Ī cornerpost of the log farmhouse The Timbering: Blockstanderbau Hess, a descendant of the immigrant Hans Hess. In 1922 the farmstead left the Hess family until 1985 when it was purchased by Clarke E. In turn, their youngest son became the next owner, Mennonite preacher Jonas Hess, with wife Annie Franck Hess, followed by their son Henry F. The next farmstead owners were John and Esther Hess' youngest son Henry Hess, and wife Catherine Huber Hess. Six years later, in 1790, Christian deeded this part of the farm to his brother, John Hess ( 1768-1830), and wife Esther Hershey Hess (1769-1824). In 1784 their eldest son Christian Hess (1757-1816) received this farmstead. Their oldest son Johannes (1730-1778) was the next owner, with wife Susanna Landis Hess. 1744 for Jacob's widow Veronica and their children. ![]() This Hess family received title to the farm from the William Penn family in 1735. 1706-1741) built the first house on this tract, circa 1730s, with wife Veronica. Hans and Magdalena's oldest son Jacob Hess (c. Hans and Magdalena are the first Hess immigrants known to arrive in America. 1688-1767) and their children from Germany or Switzerland. This Hess patriarch immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1717 with his wife Magdalena (ca. The farmstead was first surveyed in 1730 as a 200-acre tract for Johannes Hess' grandfather, Hans Hess (ca. ![]() The homestead structures survive today, on several adjoining properties, as examples of vernacular architecture of the Pennsylvania Germans. Both houses served as church meeting houses for the local Mennonite community until 1856, when the first Hess Mennonite church building was constructed nearby. The primary buildings at this site were constructed by the Hess family in the 18th century, including a 1740s log farmhouse, a 1778 stone farmhouse, and a 1769 oil mill. The property is an ancestral home of the Hess family, who purchased the land from William Penn's sons in 1735. ![]() The Hess Homestead, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a historic Mennonite farmstead near the town of Lititz. The 1740s log farmhouse, with the summer kitchen, log garage, tool shed, and stone spring house ![]()
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