Governed by the Fairmount Park Commission
Administered by the Naomi Wood Trust

In 1756, William Coleman, a Philadelphia merchant and close confidant of Benjamin Franklin, purchased a tract of land along the Schuylkill River on which he planned to build a summer house called Woodford. The house was originally one story, consisting of two front rooms and built of brick with contrasting white wood trim. Coleman occupied the house until 1769, when it was sold to Alexander Barclay, a Quaker merchant. In 1771, the house was purchased by Barclay's brother-in-law, David Franks, also a merchant. It is thought that it was David Franks who added the second story, stairway and back wing "with kitchen" to Woodford. Now completed in its present form, Woodford stands as an excellent example of Philadelphia Georgian architecture with its three-part Venetian window, pedimented entrance and dentiled cornice.

During the Revolution, David Franks held to the conservative view opposing the idea of American independence. With the departure of the British, Frank's property, including Woodford, was confiscated by the new American government. Finally in 1793, Woodford was purchased by Isaac Wharton and his wife Margaret, daughter of Rebecca Rawle of the nearby Laurel Hill. Woodford remained in the Wharton family until 1868, when it was purchased by the city of Philadelphia to be added to the growing acreage of Fairmount Park.

Woodford's parlor contains one of the most finely carved overmantles and chimney breasts in the city. The house is furnished with appropriate examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American, English and Continental decorative art collected by Miss Naomi Wood, a Philadelphia collector of Colonial furniture and household items. In 1926, upon her death, Woodford was selected as a suitable site for the exhibition of her collection. Woodford continues to be administered and maintained by the trustees of the estate of Miss Wood.

Hours

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