4601 North 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Stenton (mansion)

Stenton, also known as the James Logan Home, was the country home of James Logan, colonial Mayor of Philadelphia and Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The home is located at 4601 North 18th Street in the Logan neighborhood of North Philadelphia.

History
Stenton, which was named for Logan's father's Scottish birthplace, was built between 1723 and 1730 on 511 acres (2.07 km2) as the country seat of James Logan, who was recognized in his lifetime as "a universal man in the Renaissance tradition." Arriving in Philadelphia in 1699 as William Penn's secretary, Logan occupied pivotal roles in the colony's government—including that of chief justice of the Supreme Court and acting governor—for 50 years. He assembled one of the best libraries in colonial America, discovered the vital role of pollen in the fertilization of corn (an achievement that caused Linnaeus to consider him "among the demigods of science"), and amassed a fortune in the fur trade.

The building is of red brick, with dark headers. The roof atop its 2½ stories is hipped.

After James Logan's death in 1751, Stenton was inherited by his son, William Logan (1717–1776). William used Stenton mainly as a summer residence, choosing to live in Philadelphia for the rest of the year. He also built the kitchen and added many fine furnishings.

After William's death in 1776, Stenton was in turn inherited by his son, Dr. George Logan (1753–1821), a physician and later US Senator. The house figured in the 1777 Battle of Germantown, and served as headquarters of both General George Washington and British General Lord William Howe. George married Deborah Norris (1761–1839), a noted diarist and historian, and the person to whom Sally Wister's Journal was written, in 1781. The mansion remained in the hands of the Logan family until 1910, when it was acquired by the City of Philadelphia.

Museum
Stenton, now open as a historic house museum, part of the Historic Germantown Historic Society is an outstanding example of early American Georgian architecture. Stenton was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 12, 1965. The mansion lends its name to nearby Stenton Park and Stenton Avenue. The village of Stanton in Readington Township, New Jersey also borrows its name from the mansion.

In Popular Culture
Summer 1999 director Andrew Repasky McElhinney shot interiors at Stenton for his second feature as a writer/director, the period art-horror film, A Chronicle of Corpses, starring Marj Dusay, Kevin Mitchel Martin, Oliver Wyman, David Semonin, Margot White and Ryan Foley. A Chronicle of Corpses was praised by Dave Kehr of The New York Times as belonging "to the small but significant tradition of outsider art in American movies - films like Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls or George Romero's Night of the Living Dead - that reflect powerful personalities formed outside any academic or professional tradition.” The original camera negative of A Chronicle of Corpses is in the permanent collection of MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art (New York) along with other movies directed by McElhinney.

National Register of Historic Places - Stenton (mansion)

Statement of Significance:

Stenton, built in 1728 as the county seat of James Logan is significant not only as a memorial to its little-known but highly influential builder, but also as an outstanding example of Early Georgian architecture. Logan, one of the founders of the American scientific school, is relatively unknown today. He arrived in Pennsylvania as secretary to William Penn and he has been described by a recent biographer as "a kind of universal man in the Renaissance tradition — statesman, writer, scientist, philosopher and a scientist he demands consideration in any study of American science. The two-and-a-half story house characterized by simplicity and proportion is today maintained in Germantown in excellent condition by the City of Philadelphia and the Society of Colonial Dames.