Perched on the gentle slope of a hill in West Marlborough Township, Chester County, Primitive Hall is a striking manor house that looks much the same as it did when Joseph Pennock built it in 1738. While it now sits on a smaller piece of land than the original 1,250-acre estate, the surrounding countryside—peaceful farms and rolling fields—still provides a fitting and picturesque backdrop for this historic home.
Primitive Hall was among the most substantial residences in early-18th-century Chester County. The house was built for Mary and Joseph Pennock. He acquired the land in 1703 prior to their marriage in 1705, and they constructed the house in 1738 after their 11 children had grown and Joseph was 61 years old. Primitive Hall’s large scale suggests that Joseph was making a statement when he built the dwelling out in the Pennsylvania countryside. He was a Justice of the Peace, colonial legislator, and country farmer.
An incredible architectural survival, the house also contains a superb collection of furniture, including objects that descended in the Pennock family and others that are representative of Chester County design and craftsmanship.
Since 1960, the house has undergone many restoration changes. Through careful study of the remaining features we have been able to form a remarkably accurate picture of what the property looked like during Joseph Pennock’s lifetime.
Primitive Hall is maintained by the Primitive Hall Foundation. The house and grounds are available for touring by appointment and through various events throughout the year.
"Primitive Hall"
A poem by Rebecca Pennock Lukens*
As I gaze on thee, Old Hall, my willing memory strays
Back through the lapse of many years
to those dear ancient days.
A century and more has passed since thy first owner came
To rear amid the wilderness
this tribute to thy name.
In the old primeval forest where a foot had seldom trod
Our breast glowed warm with feeling
and one heart was Sacred to God.
No cottage on the hillside, no lonely hut built he,
But a Mansion fair and large and wide
his children’s home should be.
And they with energy of soul and active mind should burn
Within their own green forest land
an honest fame to earn
They saw in him the sire revered and statesman and the sage
They strove to emulate his worth
and honor his old age.
Oh! Many a wave of Time’s great sea shall singing onward roll
And Many a Mother’s heart shall joy
o’er many a new born soul
And they perhaps who claim thee now in the cold grave shall lay
While those dear Hall in strength and pride
shall triumph o’er decay.
Still in thy chambers vast shall ring
Sweet childhood’s song of glee
And many hearts in future years
Shall fondly cherish thee.
*Rebecca Lukens (1794–1854) was a descendant of Joseph Pennock, a trailblazing American industrialist, and has been recognized as the first female CEO in the United States. She’s best known for running Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory in Coatesville, Pennsylvania — later known as Lukens Steel Company, one of the oldest continuously operating steel mills in the U.S.