Building Description Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
To the east, Strawberry Mansion faces a cul-de-sac and driveway that partially follow the lines of an early approach. The central section of the house is two-and-a-half stories high, five bays wide, one-room deep and capped by a gable roof. It is built on a central-hall plan and consists of stucco faced stone scored to imitate ashlar. Bay configuration on the east (entrance) facade is roughly symmetrical, while northern half of the west (garden or river) facade has fewer windows than the southern half. Fenestration generally follows a six-oversix-light pattern on the first floor and a three-over-six-light pattern on the second; two aediculated dormers protrude from either side of the roof. Fanlights illuminate the east and west entrances, and a small portico shelters the former. Two end chimneys, rising through the ridge of the roof, are partially incorporated into the wings. A dentilled cornice adorns the roof line.
Greek Revival wings flank the central section and are subtly offset from it. Three stories high, three bays wide and built of stucco-faced brick, the wings maintain the older structure's depth but are set back slightly west of it and employ plain rather than scored stucco. Low-pitched gable roofs cover the additions and, on the east side, are decorated with parapets consisting of panels and massive scrolls. Six-over-six-light sashes fill the first- and second-story windows except on the west wall of the northern wing. As on the central section, first-story windows are equipped with panelled shutters, and louvered shutters are used on the second story. The attic windows are paired, four-light sashes located between two recessed string courses. A variety of sash types and an off-center door define the northern wing's west wall while the highly-symmetrical south wing has central doors on its east and west fronts. The southern (end) wall of the south wing is blind. Its northern counterpart is pierced by two windows and two doors, the latter leading to an extension that contains a caretaker's room, a storage area and a garage. The wings have centered end chimneys supplemented by another chimney on the north wing's west side. Strawberry mansion's interior contains elaborate Federal-style wood work that is concentrated in the entrance hall. The Greek-Revival "ballroom" on the first floor of the south wing is equally ornate. In the central section's basement, features such as the underpinnings of a long-vanished fireplace survive from an earlier building.