THE PROPERTY HISTORY

This home is located in Fertility, PA named for its fertile soil and after its post office in the old days. Very few people refer to the area as Fertility except for a few of our neighbors that gather periodically. The old Groff’s Mill/Bonholtzer’s Mill and now the Olde Mill House Shoppes home décor store is located 500 yards to the south of our home over the bridge - that used to be a covered bridge in its infancy.

The home was built by a woman, Barbara Diffenbach, in 1867 and is considered Federal Style architecture made of traditional Lancaster soft brick and topped with the original Peach Bottom slate roof. On the back of the home, a two story addition has been built overtop of an old cistern that collected the rain water to use for washing clothes, as that water was softer than the naturally hard well water in our area – a result of the limestone laden ground.

The Farmhouse was built in the late 1800s, and we took ownership in November 2019 from our neighbors.  Our prior neighbors lovingly restored this home and gave it a modern feel with the warmth and character reflecting the past yet the convenience of everything we love today. We have tried to think of everything that you could desire to have during your stay at our home – from fresh linens to eggs (please message us to see if we have fresh eggs available), complimentary coffee, tea and snacks.

We will always be restoring/updating/keeping up with this old home, so please message us if you have a suggestion or a question about something.