610 Shady Lane

The oldest house in Narberth?

…one log cabin still in existence on the land that Evan Jones called his "south of the Conestogoe Road" [Montgomery Avenue] was, according to tradition, constructed and acquired a 1722 datestone. This cabin still stands as the dining room of a house at 610 Shady Lane. The present owners, the William Hunter Boardmans, tell me that shortly after moving into the house in 1924, they uncovered log-cabin construction when they added a room, and they also removed a corner fireplace (Swedish characteristic) with linenfold mantel from the "cabin" dining room. Lower Merion tax lists show that this dwelling, then (and until the early twentieth century) on sixteen acres, was rented by innkeeper and patriot Abraham Streaper from descendants of the original Welsh land owner in the 1770s. Streaper bought the property in 1781, the same year widow Elizabeth Conrad (Narberth's "witch") bought her adjoining 6.75 acres from the same owner.

Should an actual 1722 datestone be found on the Boardman cabin, this would represent the first firm dating ever of a colonial cabin thought to be Swedish.

— Excerpted from Victoria Donohoe, Clues & Findings: Swedish-Indian Trading Post, Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Autumn 1982.

Updated March 19, 2025.