Brandywine Friends Meeting House   ...The house at 1240 Birmingham Road in West Chester, Pennsylvania is very interesting because it was built in the Quaker style in the early 1800's. The Quaker style means that the houses do not have a defined front or back to them. That means that the house is symmetrical. The right and left sides are the same. In the house every room, but one bedroom has a fireplace.   The house was built with green-gray Serpentine Stone. The stone is not very strong, but there was and still is a quarry nearby where the stone was gathered. The house and land is on an old dairy farm, which used to work in the early stages of its years. There is still an old stone milkhouse, and there is a stone springhouse.   I do not know the first owners of the house, but it is thought that the schoolmaster, Enion Cook, was one of the original owners. They say he taught at the octagonal schoolhouse across the street in the early 1800's. Next to the schoolhouse there is the Birmingham Friends Meeting House and the Lafayette Cemetery.   In 1873 Jesse H. Garrett owned the house. He married his second wife on January 5,1861. They lived in the house, but between 1873 and 1883 the ownership of the house changed over to Harvey Darlington.   Harvey Darlington was married to Cassandra Huey. When Harvey was young, he conducted the village store in Dilworthtown. Dilworthtown was just down the Public Highway from the house. He stayed in Dilworthtown for forty years before he moved to 1240 Birmingham Road.   When Mr. Harvey Darlington was the owner of the house, the house was best known in the area because it was on a Public Highway and it was across the street from the Birmingham Friends Meeting House. The meetinghouse was a hospital during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Harvey Darlington had the key to the meetinghouse, so people who wanted to go to the meetinghouse had to go to Mr. Darlington's house to retrieve the key.   Harvey Darlington was a good farmer. Harvey loved horses and he bred fast horses on the farm in the barn. The horses won many honors at different tracks in the area. Later the barn burned down, and some of the horses were lost in the fire.   Mr. Darlington had two daughters and four sons. He died June 28, 1920. Mr. Darlington was 84 years old. The house was then taken over by his wife Cassandra. Cassandra moved to one of their other homes in West Chester, but still kept the house in Birmingham. She died on May 5, 1938. The house was then sold to the Lamotts. I do not know of any other owners between Cassandra Darlington and the Lamotts. Then the house was sold to Thomas and Martha Butts in the early 1950's When the Butts owned it the house had a windmill next to the house. Inside, in the attic, there was a large cistern. The windmill was used to pump water up to the cistern, where it was stored to provide water for the house. Next to the barn there was a silo to keep corn for the animals. The Butts owned the house for 30 some years before selling it. David and Dianne Elderkin bought the house in 1983 and have taken a lot of time restoring it. The house has the appearance of an old farmhouse, but with all the amenities of the 21st century.   The Elderkins have spent a lot of time restoring the old house and have found many interesting things. For example, in removing old paint from the outside windows and doors, they found that at one time, probably during the Victorian era, all of the windows and doors were painted red. Even the mortar between the stones was dyed red.   Another interesting thing about the house is the graffiti on one side. There are a number of initials and dates, such as "EIC 1812," "IE 1812,"and "TP 1813." The Elderkins wondered if these initials were real or fake, but became convinced that they were real when they tore an old porch off of the house and found the graffiti under the porch that had been on the house for at least a hundred years.   Although there has been a lot of development in the area, the view from 1240 Birmingham Road is still much like it must have been on the day of the Battle of the Brandywine. There are open fields and woods around the house. We hope it will stay that way.