The Hatfield House, a historic house and community cultural hub, is located at the intersection of North 33rd Street and West Girard Avenue in East Fairmount Park.
Originally a farmhouse constructed circa 1760, it is the only all-wood historic house in Fairmount Park. Given to the city by Major Henry Read Hatfield, the house was moved from its original location near Hunting Park and Pulaski Avenues to its current location in Fairmount Park in 1930. In 2017, the Fairmount Park Conservancy created a one-year artist residency at the house, beginning the journey to transform the Hatfield House into a community-centered space for art, culture, and history.
Hatfield House Timeline
1760 – The frame farm house was constructed in what is currently the Nicetown section of Philadelphia near Hunting Park and Pulaski Avenues
1806-1824 – The house serves as a residence and boarding school
1831-1836 – William J. Hays purchases house and adds the Greek Revival temple front porch
1854-1930 – Dr. Nathan Hatfield purchases house for a summer residence. His son, Major Henry Read Hatfield gives the house to Fairmount Park and moves it, floor by floor, to its current location at 33rd Street and Girard Avenue
1950-1960s – Operated as an historic house museum
1972 – Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
1976 – Restored jointly by Fairmount Park and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
1976-1978 – During the 1976 Bicentennial the house is furnished by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and reopens as a house museum
1978-2017 – House is used for offices for a variety of non-profits with a live-in caretaker residences
2017-2018 – Fairmount Park Conservancy engages Amber Art & Design to begin a one-year Community Catalyst Artist Residency at the Hatfield House, focusing on Strawberry Mansion and East Fairmount Park
2019 – Fairmount Park Conservancy, building from the successes of Amber Art’s residency, begins work to continue supporting the house as a community hub that is welcoming for all and centers the neighborhood’s Black culture and history through art exhibitions, community events, collaborations with local artists, teachers, and entrepreneurs