Jacob;s Resting Place 1790 Architecture and Restoration. The structure is a classic 5 bay Georgian brick colonial. Most structural parts and building treatments are original. Little has been removed. We have performed about 75% of restoration and project work ourselves with about 25% being performed as specialty and contract work. We have hundreds of pictures of restoration and project work to include a historic before, during, and after photo album that has pictures as early as the 1870s. The following architectural treatments remain from original construction: The walls are triple thickness brick. The exterior brick was fired on site. Some amount of the interior brick is a softer orange tint brick that was brought up the Susquehanna River from the Chesapeake Bay as ballast. The bricks across the front of the structure are laid in an interlocking Flemish bond, which is uncommon because of the expense of laying brick in that fashion. However, it makes for a stronger more aesthetic structure. We would say it has great curb appeal. From the colonial coined term, it has its;best face forward.; Vertical brick fans exist over the doors and windows. Curved water table brick are laid about 2 feet above the front foundation. Approximately 90% of the windows (except for replaced glass panes) are original to the structure. Front windows are 12 over 12 panes (24 total) for each first floor window and 8 over 12 panes (20 total) for the second floor. The backside windows are 9 over 9 and 6 over 9 for first and second floors respectively. Original window sashes have muttons that are still pegged at the frames with interior mortise and tenon construction. Woodwork (doors, chair rails, foot rails, and door facings) is original with dovetail construction in corners. Joints are mortise and tenon. Doors are 6 panel pegged, mortise, and tenon. Floors are random width tongue and grove boards. All woodwork boards are hand-planed with plane marks remaining. Three exterior doors are each different being six panel, Dutch, or batten. Doors have their original hardware and are hung on iron hinge pins with hand forged strap hinges. Some original bean latches remain on interior doors. The main structural members are hand hewn walnut beams. Floor joists are held by heavy wooden pegs to the main structural members at mortise and tenon joints. Walls are tongue and groove or ship lapped random width boards with about an inch of horsehair plaster attached to uneven hand cut hickory lathe. There are seven fireplaces, all of which have their original hand-planed mantles. Some hearth brick are original. The large cooking fireplace in the kitchen contains a warming oven in the side. We safely use 6 of the seven fireplaces today. Other unique colonial style treatments exist inside the structure. The following major restoration and renovation work has been performed: Red paint residue was chemically cleaned from the brick. Brick was re-pointed by hand using a restoration formula for the mortar. We removed old knob and tube wiring and rewired the structure. Bathrooms were added. Central air conditioning was added with runs generally concealed in closets. Brick patio added adjacent to main structure and family room addition. The joint kitchen / utility room was returned to the original kitchen configuration. The random width kitchen floor was replaced with boards milled from trees on the property. A random width cherry floor was placed in second floor rooms over the kitchen. The ceiling was replaced in the Keeping / Tavern Room to expose original hand hewn beams. Damaged plaster was repaired or replaced. A bricked up window and a not original door were replaced with custom built reproduction windows to be like those of original construction. Several smaller restoration projects have been accomplished. The following major project additions have been performed to the structure and grounds: Large family room addition was built. Addition of 1,100 square foot wing for BB suites and office space completed. Brick patio and terraces added at original front of structure. Patio space totaling 1,900 square feet added in front of east wing addition. Brick walkway added to east side of east wing addition. Pavilion, using old beams, was added on the patio. Swimming pool with hand hewn beam pool house added with terrace steps down from the rear patio. Colonial garden with brick walkways leading to a cottage garden with stone walkways added on the Pike side / rear of structure. Rail fencing placed around the 3 acres of grounds. Asphalt parking area added to the east side of the property. Stone road circular drive to rear of property added. The following projects are in the planning stage: Completion of electrification of the Pennsylvania banked barn (3 floors with about 9,000 square feet). Possible catering facility added on remaining footprint of old brick office and garage buildings.

Jacob;s Resting Place 1790 Historical Artifacts. There are historical items that have accompanied the house, items that we have;uncovered;, history that occasionally climbs from its earthen bed, and an occasional find somewhere else that ties to the history of the structure or the Henderson-McKnight family. During our 17 years here we have found items in the ground, the barn, the now removed carriage house, the house, and the LeTort. We have found them plastered in the fireplace, bricked up over the cooking fireplace, lost under the floors, hidden in the barn floor, tucked away in an attic recess, forgotten in an obscure place, and thrown away with the trash or garbage. Not once did we look for items---each was a discovery of sort. We are sure that more treasures lie in wait---the mysteries and beauty of history. When we wrote the contract offer for the house, we tried to purchase all the furniture with the house, but were unsuccessful. The house was chuck-a-block full of antiques. Everything was designated for someone in the McKnight family. Most had been passed down from one, two, or three previous generations. Every item from furniture to smalls had a family name of a child or grandchild on it. Two chairs, an exquisite Chippendale and a mellow comb back Windsor, had belonged to Carlisle;s own James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a co-writer of our Constitution along with Thomas Jefferson. Among other historical items, the McKnight family retains documents signed by George Washington, who was a friend of Robert Miller. From all the Henderson-McKnight household antiques, we were able to write fireplace pieces and outdoor attached pieces into our purchase contract. The outdoor attached pieces were placed in the contract to preclude their removal. The following items knowingly came with the house contractually: 2 Chippendale sets of brass fireplace equipment from the late 1700s or early 1800s, which included large footed fireplace fenders, numerous tools, and brass and iron andirons. Hand-painted bellows. A decorative sand cast iron stove plate signed Steuben (one of the best colonial master iron and glass makers) and dated 1769. An exact mate is displayed in the Pennsylvania State Museum (William Penn Museum). The stove plate was lightly held in the back of a fireplace by plaster and a shutter dog and was being used as a fire-back. A large cast iron bell that was attached to an adjacent structure. A rooster weather vane and lightning rods on top of the barn. Some items have been found tucked away and left in places on the property: In the carriage house we found an 1850s bible with a German inscription in the front. It was presented by a teacher to his pupil. A nice personal inscription was sprinkled with glitter to stand out. A whiskey flask in the floor of the barn was obviously hidden there for a secretive occasional snort. An actual heavy sand cast fire-back from the 1700s was being used in the back of a brick incinerator as a means of protecting the brick from heat deterioration. It has beveled edges with the classic colonial shouldered shape and about a 7 inch crack at the right top to give it character. We gave it a good cleaning by torching off the rust and quenching it with old motor oil for an absorbent protection. Today, it stands in the back of our walk-in kitchen fireplace. The barn and carriage house contained numerous items such as barrels, hearth brick, ladders, some carriage parts, leather horse halters and tack, an old spur, and other items. We have yet to look in all corners and hard to find places in the barn. A small wooden knick-knack container with cute applied painting remained in a recessed area of the attic. A set of old inexpensive andirons were also in the attic. Small cast iron figurative door knockers remained attached to doors. Other smalls or broken things were also left behind in out buildings and other places. Numerous items have been found when performing restoration work: The best find was two old shoes bricked up near the top of the large walk-in cooking fireplace in the kitchen. Marie found the shoes, some shreds of newspaper, and a repaired sock. Terry took the shoes to Williamsburg on one of his business trips. The senior cobbler excitedly described the shoes. It seems there are a few examples in Northern Virginia and Pennsylvania of shoes being bricked up in fireplaces and over door and window lentils for good luck when houses were built. He described the shoes in detail. Sparing all the detail, one shoe was made before 1750 (square toe) and was likely a gentleman;s fine dancing shoe because of the way it was made. The other was made between 1750 and 1765 and had a blunt semi-round toe. Peg holes were visible in the sole. Both were badly worn with evidence of buckles having come off and leather modifications made to permit continued use of the shoes. The worn shoes were selected for posterity because they were no longer wearable. One showed a disfigurement that must have been caused by a huge bunion. The rest of the story connects to a colonial saying,;You;re square.; This expression was used to poke fun at a gentleman wearing an outdated unfashionable square-toed shoe after 1750 according to Williamsburg. Fashion had its place even then. Also found in restoration work were the following items: Ben Franklin style glasses; an iron ax head; a masonry tool / hammer; a few assorted coins; hand forged spikes, shutter pins, and nails; hand wrapped tin water line connecting the old well to the summer kitchen for water supply; a beautifully decorated skewer for cooking meat; numerous types of pottery and glass shards. We frequently find some form of hand forged iron nails and pottery / glass shards whenever we dig down 4 to 5 inches within 50 feet of the house. On the backside of the house, the entire yard is full of huge oyster shells. Oysters were a staple brought up from the Bay for food for travelers. Since garbage collection did not exist, the remains were dumped out the back and not very far at that. When we put in the garden and buried incoming electrical lines, a backhoe would scoop half a bucket of oyster shells with each dig. When putting in the patio, stone walkways, and underground electrical lines to the pool house, we discovered the heavy foundation construction of the missing summer kitchen. We had seen only pictures of it. Evidently, it was torn down in the mid 1900s when cooking was moved to modern stoves in the main house. In short, the summer kitchen was no longer needed and in the way. Our grandchildren found some leather horse tack when wading in the Le Tort. We have found a horseshoe that the ground sort of spit out and an old railroad style spike used to construct a small working bridge over the Le Tort. We also found part of a horseshoe when digging postholes. We found a huge amount of animal bones in the dirt under the kitchen floor when we replaced the floor. It is the only part of the structure without basement. We placed a four-inch concrete barrier and footers to rest the joists on for the replacement random width pine floor. We expect discoveries to continue with every project. No doubt many secrets still await detection with time. So it should be. No one should know all the secrets. Some must remain for the follow-on caretakers. After all, we are just caretakers of a small part of history for a short period of time. For us and for you, Jacob;s Resting Place has transcended four different centuries to take its rightful place in our history.

 Guest rooms have air conditioning
 Central situation
 Conference and meeting room
 Credit cards accepted
 Facsimile services
 Fitness hall
 Hairdryer
 Heating
 Access to internet
 Ironing facilities
 Jacuzzi tub
 Smoke-free guest rooms
 Around-the-clock recetpion
 Parking lot
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Clock/radio
 Fridge
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Swimming pool
 Phone at reception
 Phones in rooms
 TV sets in rooms
 Patio, summer terrace
 Cheques accepted
 Common room with a TV set