Mount Pleasant Mansion, Philadelphia

Mount Pleasant, a residence dating back to around 1761-62, was constructed in the rural outskirts of Philadelphia for John Macpherson and his wife Margaret. They chose to name their home "Clunie," in honor of the ancestral home of the Macpherson family clan in Scotland.

John Macpherson himself had a somewhat mysterious background; he was involved in privateering, and there were even rumors of him being involved in piracy. According to John Adams, who would later become the second President of the United States and visited the mansion in 1775, Macpherson had suffered the loss of an arm due to being shot twice. Adams also described the house as "the most splendid residence in Pennsylvania." The architect responsible for its construction was Thomas Nevell (1721-1797), who had apprenticed under Edmund Woolley, the builder of Independence Hall.

The Georgian-style mansion features an entrance adorned with a pediment supported by Doric columns. Its roof is capped with a balustrade and boasts prominent dormer windows and two large chimneys. Adjacent to the main house are two small, symmetrical pavilions - one serving as an office and the other as a summer kitchen - all embellished with brick quoins.

Inside, the mansion retains its original paneling, adorned with ornate carvings. It offers a glimpse into the opulent lifestyle of colonial elites and is adorned with mementos from Macpherson's life and era, as well as period-appropriate furniture from the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In 1792, the property was acquired by Jonathan Williams, the first superintendent of West Point and a grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin. He resided here periodically until his passing in 1815, after which his children sold the estate to Fairmount Park.

The mansion underwent restoration in 1926 under the auspices of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974.