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Castle Finn Mansion c.1819 |
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Asking Price: $729,000
Status: ACTIVE
Type: Single-Family Home
7 Beds
1.50 Baths
5,808 SQFT
Stories: 3
Year Built: 1819
Style: Federal
MLS Number: YK7131326
24 HR Recorded Information
Call anytime to get more information about this property
(717) 496-4257 enter 32
Offered By
Gary Gestson
Phone: 1-866-437-8766
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Description
First Offering in 34 Years! A Rare Opportunity to Acquire a Great American Treasure.
Castle Finn Mansion
Built in 1819, by Joseph Webb on the site of his iron forge, Castle Finn is an American Treasure and one of the original Pennsylvania Mansions. Perfectly placed on a hill over looking Muddy Creek and the site of, what was once the Palmyra Forge, this wealthy "ironmaster's" home was the bustling hub of the forge commnity. With spacious rooms and 11'+ ceilings, this extraordinary Federal style manor home was built by master craftsmen and retains much of its original and unique architectural detailing. The exterior is contructed of stone with a stucco surface etched to simulate venetian block.
A solid 8 panel front door of the main block with fanlight transom opens to a grand entry hall graced with a wide plank wood floor, an ornate trimmed archway, embedded columns, and stairway. 
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Large twin parlors with fireplaces, wood mantels and wood panelled window wells that sit deep into the stone walls and bathe the expansive rooms with natural light are conveniently accessed from the hall and french doors connecting the parlors allow them to flow together.
Above the parlors on the second floor are two spacious bedrooms, each with the attributes of the parlors, plus gorgeous views of the front pasture and private wooded landscape. A large closet off the landing may make a great bathroom conversion. Two bedrooms occupy the third floor of this staircase and share a landing .
The adjoining and earlier constructed block is one room deep and includes the original Peach Bottom Slate (very rare) patio and walkway, and second story porch, with its original rail and posts, that runs the length of the front side of that portion of the house. An interior second story windowed hallway has a door accessing the porch, and connects 2 bedrooms, a large bathroom, a staircase to the main level and one to the attic. On the main level is the dining room, secondary entry hall with staircase, kitchen, powder room, and guest bedroom.
LOCATION:
Located at the end of a secluded country road in southern York County, near the Maryland line and 45 minutes to Baltimore, 1.5 hours to Philadelphia, 45 minutes to Havre de Grace & Aberdeen.
Minutes to 5,000 acres PP&L park, with water activities, hiking and Kelly's Run Trail, and minutes to 200 acres Susquehana State Park.
PROPERTY/SITE FEATURES:
7 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, 5 fireplaces, 3 acres.
Guest house (1 BR, 1 BA), original ice house, storage shed, partially fenced pasure, landscaping, over looks Muddy Creek. Stone construction with stucco, stone foundation, full stand up cellar suitable for finishing, wide plank floors, slate roof, oil furnace.
The original Carrera marble mantels were removed while the property was vacant in the mid twentieth century. An original wood mantel remained in a bedroom and the design was used to reproduce the rest of the mantels.
Wildlife, includes - Deer, wild turkey, mink, beaver, bald eagles, foxes, & song birds of all kinds.
SUGGESTED RESTORATIONS:
Electirical, plumbing, furnace, repair plaster walls, refinish exterior stucco (rear exterior wall already restored)
ROOMS:
Main level
Center Hall 9'x30'- 11'+ ceiling, 8 panel doors (4 original, 2 handcrafted replacements), wide plank wood floors, staircase.
Rear Parlor 20'x20'- 11'+ ceiling, 3 bay windows with original panel trim work, fireplace w/wood mantel, 11'10" ceiling.
Front Parlor 20'x17'- 11'+ ceiling, 3 bay windows with original panel trim work, fireplace w/wood mantel, 11'10" ceiling.
Dining Room 18'x15'- 9+' ceiling, built in china cabinet, 4 windows, fireplace, chair rail, wallpaper, chandelier.
Hallway 4.5'x18'-Exterior entrances, stairway to upstairs, door to basement under stairs.
Kitchen 19'x14'- 4 windows, granite counters, cabinets, track lights.
Laundry Room/Powder Room 6'x8'7.5"- Built in shelves, toilet, and sink.
Bedroom 7 10'x12'- 1 window, 2 doors to outside, 1 door to kitchen.
Second Floor
Bedroom 1 17.5'x17.5'- 9+' ceiling, 3 windows, closet, fireplace w/original wood mantel.
Bedroom 2 20'x20'- 9+' ceiling, 3 windows, fireplace w/wood mantel.
Closet Room 9'x13'- Off landing, one window, potential bathroom.
Landing 9'x13' - Door to porch, doors to bedrooms 1,2 & 3.
Passage Hallway 4.5 x 22' - 1 door to porch, doors to 2 bedrooms & bathroom.
Bathroom 13'x13' - 2 windoes, shower, clawfoot tub, 1 closet, vintage cupboard, sink, toilet
Bedroom 3 18'x15' - 9+' ceiling, 4 windows, closet, door passage hallway and main block landing.
Bedroom 4 18"x15- 9+' ceiling, 3 windows, door to bathroom, door to porch, door to passage hallway.
Third Floor
Bedroom 5 15'x20' - Wood floors, shared large, deep silled fanlight window with bedroom 6.
Bedroom 6 15'x20' - Wood floors, shared large, deep silled fanlight window with bedroom 5.
Landing 9'x21' - Wood floor, doors to bedroom 5 & 6.
Attic
Guest House
Kitchenette 6.5'x13'- Refrigerator, sink, double door closet.
Living Room 14'x13' -Built-in bookcase.
Bedroom 12'x10' - Built-in bookcase
Bathroom 9'x6' - Linen closet, tub, sink, toilet
Castle Finn Mansion History
Castle Finn Mansion was built on the site of the original Palmyra Forge, later named Castle Fin Forge. Built by Joseph Webb in 1819, this "ironmaster's mansion" was later purchased, in 1826, along with the forge by Thomas Burd Coleman. Coleman was a wealthy ironmaster who owned several other forges, including Cromwell Forge in Lebanon, as well as, Cornwall Furnace (today, a famous PA historic site). He expanded the house with a grand 3 story main block and renamed the house and the forge, Castle Finn, after his father's birth place in Ireland. Castle Finn remained in the Coleman family until 1863, when Coleman's sons sold the house and forge to Joseph Longenecker. Castle Finn Mansion may have changed hands a few times before being purchased in 1906 by Donald Yost, an attorney from York. The Yost family owned the house for 50 years, selling it in 1961 to Dr. Eleanor Halman, who had plans to restore and modernize Castle Fiinn. Instead, it remained vacant and was vandalized, with the valuable Carrera marble mantels stolen, as well as, other vintage treasures. In 1975, the current owners acquired Castle Finn and have progressed with its restoration. This grand dame has survived because she was built by master craftsmen who took pride in their work, she was commissioned by an "ironmaster" who constructed powerful forges of stone, and she has been stewarded through nearly two centuries by only 8 families who understood that to change her would diminish her. Castle Finn offers the next steward the rare priveledge and extraordinary opportunity to live in the past, while preserving it for the future. As if to remind future generations that this is an "ironmaster's" house, Joseph Webb, embedded a huge 2 1/2' x 6' iron bar from his forge into the ground in front of the door to be used as the step up into the house.
This was an "iron plantation". Surrounded by the sites and sounds associated with iron being forged - water wheels creaking, the furnace blasting, blacksmiths pounding, lumber being felled and burned into charcoal, the chatter of workers, and wagons and teamsters rolled continuously along the small road in front of the house. At its height, in 1840, 50 employees worked at Castle Finn Forge and many lived in the surrounding 15 houses built by Coleman.
Life in the mansion, however, was a bit more aristocratic. The Coleman's likely furnished this grand home with furniture imported from England, along with china and linens. They socialized with other affluent landowners, businessmen and politicians. According to the Historical Society of York County, "this old forge estate was formerly a complete community unit, having its own ice house, smoke house, slaughter house, and so on, and that even in 1906 or 1907, when his family (the Yost family) came into possession of the property, a number of homes of the former workmen were still standing...". Today only the ice house remains.
The village of Castle Fin grew out of the "old forge estate" and became one of the most important villages in southern York County. In 1832, it was even given a post office, which discontinued service in 1904. Today, little remains, except for Castle Finn Mansion.
Castle Finn has had less then eight owners in almost 200 years, and since 1906 only three - the Yost family, the Halman family, and the current owners.
Brief History of the Coleman Family
Robert Coleman (father of Thomas) was born in Ireland and came to America in 1764 at the age of 16. He worked as a book-keeper, then a clerk for several "ironmasters" and learned the business.
In 1773, Robert married Ann Old, the daughter of his employer and owner of several forges, James Old. In a very short time Robert owned numerous forges and financial interests in others, and prospered making canon and shot during the Revolutionary War. In fact, some believe that he may have been America's first millinaire. His daughter, Ann and future president James Buchanan fell in love, but Ann died, before they could marry and Buchanan went on to poilital success, but never married and always had her picture displayed in his home. Robert Coleman died in 1825 at the age of 77.
His estate valued at over one million dollars was divided between his four sons, with the smallest share going to the youngest, Thomas Burd Coleman. Thomas married Hannah Cassett (possibly related to Mary Cassatt, American painter), improved the iron business in York and purchased Palmyra Forge in 1826, changing its name to Castle Finn. They had lived in Castle Finn mansion for only 4 years, when Hannah, in 1830, died at the age of 34. Thomas moved his family to Lancaster, where in 1836 at the age of 43, Thomas died and his children went to live with their grandmother.
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Kitchen Features
- Granite countertop - Breakfast nook
Interior Features
- Basement - Attic - Dining room - Living room - Family room - Hardwood floor - Fireplace - High / Vaulted ceiling
Exterior Features
- Yard - Balcony, Deck, or Patio
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