William Reeves House

Location

Sedgley Farm
930 Valley Forge Road
Phoenixville, PA 19460

Classification

The William Reeves House is a Class II Historic Resource.

Per Schuylkill Township Zoning Ordinance 2005-02:

• A Class II Historic Resource in Schuylkill Township includes buildings, structures, or sites that have local historical, architectural, and/or archaeological significance.

History

The Sedgley Farm property was originally part of the Moore family holdings as listed in the first survey in 1701. (It was William Moore who constructed Moore Hall.) Ownership changed hands over the years.

In 1808, Daniel Conard purchased 79.5 acres and it is believed the original part of the house was constructed between 1808 and 1833. In 1900 Henry C. Pennypacker purchased the farm and sold it in 1914 to William H. Reeves, the treasurer of the Phoenix Bridge Company. He was a descendant of David Reeves, founder of the Phoenix Iron Works.

Reeves renamed the place Sedgley Farm after the family home in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. He retained New York architect Sidney Algernon Bell to enlarge the house and renovate it in the Colonial Revival style popular at the time. The interior elements of woodwork, mantles, doors, large decorative arches, and exquisite moldings add to the significance of this structure.

At William’s death in 1963, the farm was inherited by son William H. Reeves III, who lived there until his death in 2002. William H. Reeves IV is the current owner.

Colonial Revival Architecture

Colonial Revival architecture is a nationalistic architectural style and interior design movement in the United States popular from 1900-1950.

Colonial Revival homes typically have a rectangular footprint and may be one, one-and-a-half, or two stories. They have a hipped or gabled roof with a medium pitch. The façade is generally symmetrical often with side porches or sunrooms which give formality and balance. Double-hung, multi-paned windows are arranged symmetrically in pairs, frequently with shutters. The front door is centered and accentuated with a combination of pediment, pilasters, columns, fanlight, or sidelights.

The siding was clapboard with white the preferred color with trim in green, black, or other dark hues.