I have literally lost count of how many times I have written about this house. I’m speaking about the Joseph Price House in West Whiteland Township, Chester County. Located at the corner of Clover Mill Road and S. Whitford Rd. in Exton the address is 401 Clover Mill Rd.

This is a historic asset that is rotting day by day, week by week, year by year. This home is owned by two older gentleman that I assume bought it as as an investment property only nothing has ever happened. It just rotted.

This house is known as a rural or Queen Ann Gothic. It was built in 1878 and altered in 1894. It is constructed of quarried green serpentine limestone that was quarried locally.

I have known of several people in the past few years who have tried to make a deal with the owners to buy it and save it.

It could have so many adaptive reuses, it could also be a single-family home again. I think it would make a great boutique bed and breakfast AND as there is one down the street so there is a market for this.

The urban explorer known as Abandoned Steve had written about this house in the fall and there was a video. The video has since disappeared.

I really wish the video had not disappeared because it gave an accurate account of what the interior of the house was like as well as the fact that it was not a secured location. Sure houses can be empty, but don’t they also legally have to be secure?

I received a tip from another urban explorer letting me know that the interior of the house seems to be getting cleaned out. Not necessarily cleaned up but cleaned out so that could mean any number of things.

At the top of the wish list is it’s being cleaned out to sell.

At the bottom of the wish list is it’s being cleaned out so someone can file a demolition permit.

Also on the list is just the thought wrinkling my brain is someone simply stealing from this house because it’s not secure? (I mean, obviously it’s not secure if urban explorers aren’t really having any difficulty entering the premises, right?)

Now, honestly? I would not enter the premises unless I had someone in an official capacity with me and I had permission. I’ve actually wanted to do that for years to photograph the inside before it disappears. Because I really feel unless something happens, it will disappear.

The Joseph Price House is a very unique and special piece of County history and architecture.

In the fall when I saw the video from Abandoned Steve Exploration, I forwarded that video to someone on the West Whiteland Historic Commission whose response was nothing short of snotful after I contacted them a week later to make sure they had received the video after not even receiving a courtesy acknowledgment of receipt of it. I found that rather disappointing personally, but hey, I tried. I do believe that that this historic commission overall is interested in preserving this property. Obviously I just contacted the wrong person.

There have been quite a few urban explorers in and out of this house. None of them want to see the house disappear. Every single one of them says how fabulous this house is and how it could be saved.

As a matter of fact, one has sent me video snippets and there are videos coming the third week in March called Abandoned Fantasies. They are combining actual footage of the house with software that shows you what the house might look like if it was renovated and restored. It takes urban exploration to the next level and I hope it encourages people to have a vision of what can happen if you restore an old house.

So I’m voicing concern yet again this morning about this beautiful house.

The Joseph Price House needs to be saved. It’s pretty much that simple.

#thisplacematters

If the house is being cleaned out for some reason, I hope the things that were original to the house like some of the furniture that I have seen in urban explorer videos and photographs are not just disappeared forever.