Farm Fortune
Innkeeper Phyllis Combs
204 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, Pennsylvania
Tell us a little about the history of your bed and breakfast.
William Penn's sons sent Samuel Blunsten to settle land west of the Susquehanna River to protect Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from the French and the Indians. Land Grant #50 was given to Richard Ashton, who built a two-room home overlooking the Yellow Breeches Creek.
It was high on the hill overlooking the creek, a good spot to see the Indians with whom he traded fur pelts. We found the area in the home which had been used as cold storage for the fur pelts. The grant (from William Penn) was given in 1734.
Apparently a family of five lived in the first home. It housed my antique shop for 20 years, but I have now put in a bathroom and use it as a guest cottage.
The first part of the main house was built in the 1740s; the limestone section was added in 1784. It is believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad. The later section was built by Henry Hursh and appears to have remained in the family until we bought it in 1976. With the exception of a wall having been removed between two rooms in the earliest part of the house, and windows lowered and enlarged in the stone side in the 1890s, it has remained original.
I have been eager to complete the research on the history of the house and submit it to the National Register but so far haven't had the time.
When did you become interested in historic properties?
My husband grew up on the Nevada desert and knew nothing of historical properties until we came east to Princeton for school. I grew up in the Boston area and was steeped in history. He soon became interested in the history and the properties of the Eastern U.S. Our children were exposed to about every spot of historical interest we could find.
We lived in a home dating to 1801 in Princess Anne, Maryland, before coming to Pennsylvania. We had admired this property for years and bought strawberries and corn from the farmer who owned it for a number of years.
Was the building an inn when you purchased it?
It had been a farm and private home. We used it as our home for 12 years before opening it as an inn in 1987.
Was much renovation required?
The house needed heating, plumbing, wiring, patching of plaster, scraping and painting, and replacement of a few floor boards when we bought it, but it was structurally sound.
The original building, which is frame, needed to have a beam replaced and had to have the stone of the foundation and fireplace repointed. We caulked and sealed it to use as an antique shop. Then last year I had it insulated and put in a bathroom and kitchenette. It is very solid. I kept it as authentic as I could. It came out the way I hoped it would and guests love it.
What's your favorite room in your bed and breakfast?
I love the house and can't seem to choose a favorite room. Each has its own charm.
My husband liked the dining room, which is more formal, furnished with a table dating to 1790 from Massachusetts. The family or keeping room is more primitive, as is the kitchen. Each has a fireplace.
Some guests like a bedroom up the back stairs with a porch overlooking the Yellow Breeches Creek. Others like one with a king canopy bed, sloping ceilings and dormer windows.
I love my room with a porch looking over a wooded area off the front of the house. There are three sets of stairs to the second floor, and there had been two sets to the third floor, but one set was closed off before we bought the home.
Please tell us a little about the New Cumberland area.
We live just across the river from Harrisburg, the state capital, but we are 15 minutes from Hershey, 20 minutes from Carlisle with the Army War College and the old Indian School where Jim Thorpe attended. We are 25 minutes from York, the first capital of the country, and 45 minutes from Gettysburg, and also from the Amish country in the Lancaster area. A ski area is 15 minutes away. There are rolling hills and rivers. We are a mile from the Susquehanna River.
How did you come up with the name Farm Fortune?
Henry Hursh referred to the property as his Fortune estate, his Fortune Plantation, and Farm Fortune. My husband thought that Farm Fortune was the least pretentious, so we became Farm Fortune.
Note: As of November 2008, the Farm Fortune web site was no longer working, so it appears that this bed and breakfast has closed.
