ABOUT
HISTORIC VENUE
"Ingleside" was the home of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States, located in Thorndale, Pennsylvania. The history of Ingleside reflects Buchanan's life and political career.
Buchanan purchased the property in the 1820s and named it "Ingleside." It served as his residence during various stages of his career, including his time as a lawyer in Pennsylvania and his tenure in public office. Buchanan's ownership of Ingleside predates his presidency; he lived there before and after his time in the White House.
After Buchanan's death in 1868, Ingleside passed through different owners and underwent several renovations. In the 20th century, efforts were made to preserve the historical significance of the property, recognizing its association with Buchanan. Today, Ingleside stands as a historic site, offering visitors a glimpse into the life and times of James Buchanan, one of the key figures in American political history.
Past owners and associates
Buchanan House, “Ingleside”
North Bailey Road, Thorndale
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Ingleside has a history full of old Caln family names-Miller, Stalker, Downing-and more recent ones-Rambo, Zinn-but one name eclipses all the others. From 1862 to 1865 former President James Buchanan owned the farm with his friend Joseph Baker, and ever since it has been associated with this illustrious owner.
In 1723, Gayen Miller bought 500 acres from Elizabeth Webb and divided it equally between his sons Robert and Patrick.
In 1749, Patrick and his wife Ann sold a little over 166 acres to Thomas Stalker. A few years later Stalker purchased about 232 acres from Richard Pike of Cork, through Pike's Philadelphia attorney, Charles Norris.
Stalker built a house sometime before 1765, when the Caln tax record mentions “buildings” on the property. It should be noted that there may have been buildings there before that, but that's the first year for which tax records are available.
The 1798, federal “glass' ' tax assessed Stalker for 390 acres, two stone houses, a large barn, milk house, smoke house, and other farm buildings.
In 1794, when Stalker died, he left most of his property to his son Thomas Jr. Thomas Jr died in 1820 and bequeathed the property to his wife Jane during her lifetime and, after her death, to daughter Grace, who was married to Joseph Downing. This is the Grace Stalker Downing her great-great-grandson Francis Brown mentions in his book Old Caln Meeting House, Its Story, saying that she was born in 1788 and lived in the house now called the Buchanan House.
In 1821, Grace's mother Jane Stalker turned over the “Western Division” of the property, 225 acres, to Grace and Joseph Downing, for the consideration of $200 a year while Jane lived.
In 1826 and 1827, the Downings sold two tracts totaling about 160 acres to Lewis Hoopes, another large Caln landowner. Hoopes died a few years later, intestate, and Orphans Court awarded his widow and son Henry over 300 acres.
In 1854, Henry and his wife Matilda turned the property over to an assignee, who sold it to James McClellan, the owner for only three years. Townsend Walter was the next owner, for six years, selling to James Buchanan and Joseph Baker in 1862. Buchanan and Baker were old friends, and Buchanan joined with Baker in purchasing the farm to help his friend. Three years later Baker was able to buy his half of the farm from Buchanan. Baker's vocation as farmer lasted twenty years.
In 1882, he sold to another gentleman farmer, Charles Bailey, owner of Thorndale Iron Works and prominent in other iron and steel companies. Bailey died in 1899, but his son William continued to live on the farm for some time.
In 1911, H. Graham Rambo bought the place from the Baileys. Rambo was a Coatesville real estate broker, apparently backed by a group of investors- “New York Capitalists,” as a news item described them-and it continued “...they went into the game rather extensively.” It seems to have been Rambo and his investors who named the property "Ingleside". Formerly a dairy farm, it engaged in poultry farming in a big way. “The International Egg Laying Contest, with 500 hens entered, is now in progress there,” said a 1914 news item. Around that time the farm had some financial difficulties, as evidenced by items in Clippings and the sheriff's sale and other transactions. Rambo was apparently able to stabilize his affairs for about twenty years.
In 1934, during The Great Depression, the farm was taken over by Coatesville Building and Loan.
In 1937, John W. B. Bausman and his wife Mary bought Ingleside. A Lancaster man, Bausman also owned a farm at Exton and was a director of the Hamilton Watch Company.
In 1955, entrepreneurs Christian and Margaret Zinn bought the place and built a popular diner there, later adding the Ingleside Bowling Center, a golf course, and other enterprises. For a while they lived in the old house, which was later turned into the Ingleside Manor Country Club.
In 1971, the Zinn family sold most of the Ingleside property to Thorndale Associates, and later bought it back-from the sheriff-in 1978, and a year later sold the bulk of it to Chester County Industrial Development Authority.
In 1995, the house and 3.398 acres were owned by Ingleside Associates, then by Bailey Road Associates in 1997, and finally-Sheriff's sale again-to COBA in 2009.
Various forms of progress have changed this fine old house, from its rural, agricultural beginnings to its latter days as a country club surrounded by suburbs.
