First, you smell it - the wonderfully musty scent of history emanating from nooks and crannies, from the cracks and fibers of old wood.
Then, you see it. Floorboards suddenly turning in a different direction, stairs leading to nowhere - marks of 200 years of change.
You feel it as you run your hand over original millwork unevenly thickened by layers of paint, and subtle gouges on hand-carved door panels.
Standing quietly in the Ironmaster's House, you may even hear echoes of the past. And, if you like what you hear, for $289,900 you can own this large, Federal-style home adjacent to Valley Forge National Historical Park, a relic of American history.
Around 1794, not 20 years after Gen. George Washington's Valley Forge encampment in the winter of 1777-78, the home was built for ironmaster David Potts, whose family name lives on today in Pottstown and Pottsgrove. Potts and his brother Isaac owned the land where the valley forge operated, and Isaac Potts lived in the building originally constructed as Washington's Headquarters, where he ran a grist mill. Washington's Headquarters and the Ironmaster's House are believed to have been constructed by the same builder.
When David Potts died, he owned more than 800 acres. The property changed hands over the years, and portions were sold off. Now, the Ironmaster's House sits on a little more than a half-acre.
Built into a hillside, it backs to a creek originating from a spring where Washington is said to have quenched his thirst, according to Frederick Achenbach, executor of Annajane Watson's estate. An antiques dealer, Watson had lived in the three-story, 3,000-square-foot home for 20 years until her death this year.
Achenbach, who now manages the property, said that although it has five bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and five fireplaces, the house had a more modest beginning. Additions to the back and side were built about 100 years ago.
The stucco exterior was probably added to the home's thick stone walls. Also added was the ornate wrought-iron posts holding up the roof of the front porch, creating a beautiful and distinctive entrance.
Typical of Federal architecture is the delicate fan transom above the front door, and the many large, symmetrically placed windows.
Inside, original millwork remains, including chair-rails, fully cased entryways with bull's-eye corners, and cased window openings with deep sills, all painted in rich colonial colors. Original doors and hardware, and the original mechanical doorbell, remain.
