Ruth Mansion House

The William Ruth Mansion House is a historic house in Leipsic, Delaware. Originally built for William Ruth, a merchant and trustee of the first free school in Delaware, the house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973.[2]

Ruth Mansion House
Ruth Mansion House, HABS Photo, 1936
LocationMain St., Leipsic, Delaware
Coordinates39°14′25″N 75°30′51″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1780
Architectural styleGeorgian
MPSLeipsic and Little Creek MRA
NRHP reference No.73000496[1]
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1973

Ruth bought the property in 1807 [3] and started his "Mansion House" soon thereafter. His house-builder used Owen Biddle's 1805 pattern book, The Young Carpenter's Assistant,[4] for some of the designs, specifically the step end brackets of the main stair, which match the pattern book exactly (see photo). The house has been added to and renovated a number of times. The north section was added ca. 1841.[5] The house contains 9 fireplaces, 6 in the original brick L-shaped section, including a large kitchen fireplace with original crane intact.[6]

The main section had a second floor bay window added during the Victorian period, and the main section was renovated in the 1910s, adding a new newel post and main front door in the entrance hall, as well as sliding double doors into the main parlor, and French doors between the main parlor and the new dining room in a new frame addition to the rear, and a new front porch. The new front door and newel post are very similar to designs published in the Sears catalogues in the 1910s. An open porch behind the 1920s kitchen was enclosed in the 1950s. There are a number of shed additions to the rear of varying dates.

William Ruth was a merchant who bought local produce and shipped it to Philadelphia from the port of Leipsic, Delaware, then known as Fast Landing, which was renamed Leipsic in 1814.[7] He died in 1822, willing the property in two halves, splitting the house in half.[8]

  • Stair bracket
  • Mantel
  • Exterior from southeast

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. National Register of Historic Places listings in Kent County, Delaware.
  3. Kent County (DE) Land Records (need deed book and page reference).
  4. Owen Biddle, The Young Carpenter's Assistant, Philadelphia, 1805.
  5. Kent County (DE) Land Records, property purchased in 1841 by the Wilson Family (need deed book and page reference).
  6. Vincent Rogers and Miss Rosemary Troy (July 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ruth Mansion House". National Park Service. and Accompanying three photos
  7. Delaware Genealogical Society Index of Towns and Places.
  8. Kent County (DE) Wills, (need will book and page reference).
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