Slate Roof House

Built circa 1687, for Samuel Carpenter (1649-1714), Deputy-Governor of Colonial Pennsylvania, and his wife Hannah Hardiman (1645-1728). Between 1699 and 1701 it was the townhouse of William Penn (1644-1718), then resident at Pennsbury Manor, and bore a strong similarity to the rear of Penns-in-the-Rocks, the house that Penn built back in England at around about the same time. At the time, this house was remarkable in colonial Pennsylvania for being made both of brick and with a slate roof. It was home to several prominent Americans until 1755, when it became a commercial property and gradually fell into disrepair. Despite protests from local historians and the local community, the historic old house was demolished in 1867 for development.