Lancaster County has one of the better agricultural preserve laws in the country. Some agricultural areas are protected from development, while others cannot be subdivided off except for one lot of not less than ten acres. Some farmers have been paid by the acre for signing protective easements that prohibit their farms from ever being developed.
Many historic homes, mills and farmhouses have not been so lucky. As a student of history and architecture, I have watched sadly for thirty years as our architectural heritage disappears.
The farm that this home once inhabited is now a small island with townhouses on one side and a supermarket and garden center on the other. Rohrerstown, once a rural community, is now an extension of greater Lancaster.
Because of the fading light and the distance I had to stand away from the house due to the construction (or should I say deconstruction) tape, my camera could not show the original built-in antique corner cupboard in the dining room just to the left of the bulldozer. There's no evidence that the corner cupboard will not be destroyed along with the rest of the home.
I wonder how many generations of families lived here, and how different was Pennsylvania in the horse drawn days when this farmhouse was new and vital? I wonder what their stories were, and whether anyone who lived here is still alive? Every time another one of these homes of another era disappears, we all lose a piece of our history and culture.
Copyright2007BrianSchulman©
| Brian Schulman offers expert real estate consultation and services in Lancaster County, PA. To contact him, visit http://www.FindLancasterHomes.com/ |
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