Benjamin West Birthplace | |
Location | Swarthmore College campus, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°54′18″N 75°21′5″W / 39.90500°N 75.35139°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | c. 1724 |
NRHP reference No. | 66000662 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 [1] |
Designated NHL | December 21, 1965 [2] |
The Benjamin West Birthplace, also known as Benjamin West House, [3] is a historic home located on the campus of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was the birthplace of artist Benjamin West (1738-1820), who was an influential mentor to a generation of American painters, including Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale. [4] His birthplace was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. [2] [1] It presently houses the dispatch and offices for the college's campus police, along with a visitor information center. [3]
The Benjamin West Birthplace stands on the east side of the Swarthmore campus, just west of North Chester Road off Visitor Center Road. It is a 2+1⁄2-story stone structure, with a gabled roof pierced by two gabled dormers on each side. The main facade is five bays wide, with a centered entrance sheltered by a gabled portico. The interior does not have any original 18th-century features, the building having been gutted by fire in 1874. At that time its interior was rebuilt, and an ell added to the rear. [4]
The house was reportedly built about 1724, when the area was still part of Springfield Township. Benjamin West was born in this house in 1738 into a Quaker family, but was himself an Anglican for most of his life. He was one of the first American-born artists to be trained in Italy, and settled in England in 1763, where he embarked on a successful career as a painter, working primarily on commission to King George III. He is important in the history of American art for his role in supporting the early careers of a number of Americans who achieved great success, including Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, and Charles Willson Peale, all of whom he supported both financially and logistically in their development. [4]
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Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 1974. (875 KB)
Media related to Benjamin West birthplace at Wikimedia Commons