The Joseph Kenderdine House previously stood near the intersection of Davis Grove and Keith Valley Roads on the corner of what is now Commonwealth National Golf Club. This land was originally purchased by Richard Kenderdine from Samuel Carpenter in 1713, and Richard’s son Joseph built the original grist mill here c1735. The belief is that part of this house was built at that time but Charles Harper Smith in his “Settlement of Horsham Township” states that Joseph Kenderdine moved to Horsham c1738 and that a foundation discovered a few yards south of the Alcorn House may mark the location of his home.99 p55 The “Alcorn House” is a contemporary reference (c1943) and we do not know its location – but the “Kenderdine House” and the “Alcorn House” may be one and the same. Smith estimates that the Alcorn House and the home that is part of the present mill complex were both built between 1810-15.99 p57 although these were probably additions.
LivingPlaces.com92 says the house was likely built by Richard Kenderdine prior to his death in 1734 and prior to the mill which was built c1735. The mill can be dated to 1735: it did not appear in the tax records of 1734 or the will of Richard Kenderdine in 1734 but was mentioned in the 1735 petition to extend Horsham Road to provide access to the mill which “…Thomas and Joseph Kenderdine has borne at great expense at building,”
The house was acquired prior to the 1990 opening of Commonwealth National, not by the club directly, but by the investors in the club. At some point they decided to demolish it but allowed the township and HPHA to see if there was some way to save it. Unfortunately we were unable to come up with a plan. They allowed HPHA access to the home to see if there was anything that could be salvaged but it was in very poor condition. We did salvage a cast iron claw foot tub but not much else. The house did have some beautiful exposed beams that may have been chestnut and spanned the width of the house. It would have been nice to save these but the demolition company did not seem to share our interest.
The spot where the house once stood is now part of the golf course.
“Predating the mill is the other ancient building of the site, the stuccoed, fieldstone Richard/Joseph Kenderdine house which stands to the east across what is now Keith Valley Road. Its easternmost portion shows the steep roof pitch of pre-Georgian design. Its massive corner fireplace and winder stair are typical of early eighteenth century plans as well. Although the stair has been replaced on the first floor, it survives on the second floor into the attic. In the basement, the timbers of that early portion of the house are hewn and pit sawn, corroborating the antiquity of the forms and the plan. The house was enlarged with a two room deep “two thirds Georgian” Federal wing in the early nineteenth century, probably at the time that the mill was sold to Shay. Federal mantels, door and window surrounds, and chair rails establish the period of the addition while the old, single room house became the hall and kitchen.”