Highland Farm

h point his widow Ann (Hoopes) Hannum continued to reside at Highland Home until 1891. Constructed of local fieldstone, the earliest known picture of the home is an etching in Futhey & Cope depicting Highland Farm as it looked in 1871 under John Hannum. That depiction shows a much smaller Highland Farm with only two and one-half floors, no wing and two small porches. A later photography taken by Gilbert Cope in 1889 confirms the rendering seen in the etching, but also shows a single floor storage shed extending out on the western side of the structure. The Highland Farm visitors see today was the brainchild of Herman Hoopes who purchased the property in 1895. Hoopes was a wealthy Philadelphia financier who purchased the property to be his summer residence. To help effectuate his vision, Mr. Hoopes enlisted the services of Horace W. In 1895, Mr. Sellers, who would later rise to prominence as a noted Philadelphia architect, was just launching his own firm having previously worked for various engineering and railway enterprises. Together these two men created a stunning rendition of American Georgian architecture and a gentlemen’s summer estate in a league with the estates of other leading industrialists and businessmen of the era.