by I love a good historic house, so when Doug was working I went off to the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was decorated for the holidays so I expected a full tour but was surprised to get a private tour.
The house was built in 1859 by – no surprise – Ebenezer Maxwell, a wealthy cloth merchant. The house cost $10,000 to build, which google says is about $400,000 today. Though the house is named for him today, the family actually only lived in the home for three years.
The next family to live in the home were the Hunters, and generations of the family lived in the home. When their run came to an end, the house sat empty and was in danger of demolition. Fortunately the historical society rescued it, and in 1965 the house was restored to its Victorian-era appearance.
There’s nothing especially historically significant about the home or the people who lived there, it’s just a beautiful home which seemed a shame to tear down.
