Corker Hill
National Historic Register of Historic Places
Mansion House
The dwelling is constructed of brick, a two-story, seven-bay gable-end farmhouse with Federal period architectural stylistic details, vernacular influence, and early Colonial Revival additions. It was most likely built by John Thompson (also spelled Thomson in the records) shortly after he acquired the property in 1809. The house faces southeast. Its five more easterly bays consist of a formal façade with a central entrance and two window bays on either side. The two western bays of the front elevation are recessed beneath a two-story porch and form a service or kitchen wing. The entire brick structural system, including the kitchen wing, was built at the time of original construction between 1810 and 1820.
The signature of James Thomson, found in the attic on the parging of the center chimney is dated 1820, indicating the building was complete by that date. The façade was altered c.1905 with a distinctive Colonial Revival style cupola, which replaced an original open balustraded widow’s walk (see attached historic photo). Also added were a projecting bay, decorative gable elements, and a large wraparound porch. These features dramatically changed the exterior appearance of the house, presenting a distinctive manor house unlike any other in the county.
The building rests on a limestone foundation, which is several feet high at the front elevation because the structure is built into the sloping terrain. Bricks are laid in Flemish bond at the front elevation. The side walls have common bonding with five stretcher courses between header rows. Each end wall has one opening at the main story level and at the attic level, the west end wall, at the recessed porch, has an end window on both levels of the porch.
Windows have their original frames, shutters, most hardware, and some sash. The frames are wide and massive with pegged joints, indicative of 18th and early 19th century construction. The window frames are trimmed with an ogee molding with a smaller astragal at the inner edge. The same molding is repeated, smaller, on the shutters. The shutters are large and massive with stationary louvers. They are attached with their original hardware, consisting of wrought strap hinges, and are unusual in that they have survived to the present. Most of the windows have six pane sashes. Beneath the double porch and at the rear of the house, 12 over 12 light sashes remain which date from the original construction.
The main entrance is located in the center of the five principal bays of the front elevation. The most prominent feature of this entrance is the semicircular arched fanlight above the door, with a pedimented door surround. The door has an early cast iron elbow lock, of a type used in the early 19th century. Another entrance is located approximately opposite the front door in the five-bay rear or northwest elevation. It retains its original framing and door with six raised panels. Entrances are also located in the front and rear elevations of the kitchen wing. They, too, are original to the c.1810 period.
Exterior additions to the house for the most part date c.1905 and add architectural significance to the house, allowing it to reflect more than one period or style. Most prominent is a polygonal cupola with an ogee roof set slightly off-center from the main entrance bay of the formal section of the house. A semi-hexagonal projecting bay, at the second floor level above the main entrance, also has an ogee roof. A raised porch extends across the five bays of the main or formal section of the house on the south (front) elevation, continues around the east elevation and across the entire north (rear) elevation at ground level.
Due to the hillside construction of the house, the porch is raised on brick piers and is reached by nine wooden steps leading to the main entrance; smooth round Doric columns support the porch roof on the south and east elevations, chamfered posts on low brick piers support the rear porch roof. The west end of the rear porch terminates with a gable roofed gazebo-like addition, with scroll-cut wood brackets, square support posts, and a small bell cupola centered on its roof. Distinctive decorative work in the two end gables of the house also dates from the early 20th century, consisting of radiating wooden bars forming fan shapes. In the 1970s the two-story porch at the front of the kitchen wing was enclosed with siding, however the original exterior wall with windows, doors and hardware remains intact behind it.
The roof is covered with standing seam sheet metal. Corbelled brick chimneys are located inside the gable ends and at the division between the kitchen wing and the main section of the house; the corbelling appears to have been added c.1905 (see attached historic photos).
A formal entrance and stair hall bisects the interior of the main section of the house. Two rooms are located on either side of the hallway. The stair way is an original feature and has a paneled case and cut decoration at the ends of the risers. The handrail is flattened and carried by thin balusters. The newels are turned, tall and thin in form, reflecting Federal period design preferences.
To the east of the hallway are two formal rooms, parlors, connected by a broad semicircular archway. The two parlors are similar to one another. Each has a fireplace approximately centered in the end wall. The front parlor is the more elaborate of the two, having a mantelpiece with delicate astragals. The mantel shelf projects forward over each of the pilasters. Between the fireplace and the wall separating the two parlors is a cupboard with raised panel doors. The back parlor, although it has the same configuration is simpler with a mantelpiece trimmed with a double molded architrave. In its east end wall is a door. All of these elements are part of the original construction.
Doors from the hallway into the parlors, like the other original doors in the house, have six raised panels. Their locks have been replaced with elaborate brass hardware, which was added during the early 1900s.
To the east of the hallway are two more rooms, essentially following the same form as the two parlors already described, and retaining their original elements. The more formal of these is the front room, a dining room containing a fireplace and mantel with stylized pilasters. Adjacent to the fireplace is a set of cupboards with raised panel doors. On the other side of the fireplace is a doorway leading into the kitchen. The dining room and smaller room are connected by a wide opening, trimmed with an architrave similar to that of the round arched opening between the two parlors.
The kitchen features a large service fireplace, and a flanking cupboard with raised panel doors. Wainscoting on the kitchen walls continues into the first story porch area. Very few changes have been made to the kitchen area. A c.1950s enameled sink is located on the rear (north) wall. The refrigerator and stove are both free-standing and no permanent cupboards or counters have been installed. There is a service stair leading to the second floor.
The second floor, which retains its original configuration and materials, has a different floor plan from that of the first floor, featuring a hallway that runs parallel to the front and rear walls of the house.
The main bedroom at Corker Hill includes the three southeastern-most bays of the main block of the house and has the most elaborate mantelpiece in the house. The large size and refinement of the room suggests that it may have been used for formal gatherings and entertaining. In the 18th century it was considered stylish to entertain guests in the master bedroom and indeed the finest and most expensive possessions of the occupants were frequently found there. The second floor plan and the configuration of the main bedroom reflect the c.1810 construction date of the house, a transitional period in south central Pennsylvania during which houses typically include both 18th and 19th century features. The main bedroom is also the location of the projecting bay added c.1905; this feature actually enlarges the room area. This is apparently the only substantial interior alteration made during the c.1905 renovation of the house.