Hoopes Park

Hoopes Park, on Hoopes Park Lane, was named for my family. It is just a small neighborhood park in West Chester, but everyone likes to see their name on a sign.

1732 Taylor/Hoopes House

Folke Stone Bed & Breakfast was originally built in 1732 by Abiah Taylor for his daughter Alice Taylor and her husband, Daniel Hoopes, Jr. The house was built on land granted by William Penn and during the 1800's it was a safe house on the Underground Railroad.

1704 Brinton House

William Brinton, Jr (1670 - 1751) built this home in 1704.

Hoopes Reservoir

Hoopes Reservoir in Wilmington, Delaware is especially beautiful in the fall. Construction on the reservoir started in 1925. It is dedicated to the former Chief Engineer of the Wilmington Water Department, Colonel Edgar M. Hoopes (1888 - 1931).

Brooznoll

Daniel Hoopes was born in Yorkshire, England around 1670 and traveled to America on William Penn's last ship. Penn granted Hoopes 500 acres of land located in what is now the West Chester/Westtown areas of Pennsylvania. He built a small log cabin for his family to live in while he built them a house. The house was completed in 1723. It was a 2 story stone house. Daniel and Jane had 17 children and from those children came one of the largest families in the area. By 1930, Daniel's descendants numbered 20,000. All of Daniel's 17 children lived and died within 20 miles of the Hoopes homestead, Brooznoll. Brooznoll ("windy hill") is named for Daniel's wife's family home in England. In 1740, his son, Joshua, added a new section to the house.

Brooznoll stayed in the family for nearly 200 years. The original 500 acres has been divided up over the years and Brooznoll now sits on one acre. There is a 2-acre site across the road on which Daniel's log cabin is located. The former owners were the Connely's. Nancy Connely was born and recently died in the home. She lived alone and in her later years was not able to take care of the home.

Eventually, through Nancy Connely's trust, Brooznoll came into the hands of the Brandywine Conservancy. To raise funds for the purchase of a battlefield site, Brandywine Conservancy sold Brooznoll, and the 2-acre site across the road separately.

I've been told that prior to the public sale of Brooznoll, it was offered to Hoopes relatives at market price. Since they were unable to sell to descendants of Daniel Hoopes, the house was sold publicly.

The home is in much need of repair and Patrick and Sarah (current owners) intend to do it all themselves. It appears to me to be a labor of love. Sarah has taken the time to learn all that she can about Brooznoll's history and even researched early photographs so that their renovation can be as close to original as is practical.

I want to thank Sarah and Patrick on behalf of the Hoopes family. Not just for taking time out of their busy schedules to walk a stranger through their home. But for taking on the monumental task of restoring and caring for Brooznoll. Anyone unconnected to the Hoopes family could easily have seen Brooznoll as not worth the trouble. Anyone else could have torn it down to make way for more profitable ventures. Patrick and Sarah, however, are doing what Hoopes descendants have always wanted but never did; they are making Brooznoll a home again.

As a descendant of Daniel Hoopes, Brooznoll is a part of my history. For many of us, Brooznoll is like a "mecca." It is a place we must make a pilgrimage to. But Brooznoll is also Patrick's and Sarah's home and they should be afforded the same respect and privacy of any homeowner. They have already had their fair share of uninvited guests. One day, Sarah said, she pulled into the drive to find a man digging up her yard. He explained that he was there to dig up pieces of old plates so that he could reassemble them.

But Patrick and Sarah are very understanding, accommodating, generous people. They expect that these things will happen occasionally. So if you are thinking of visiting Brooznoll, go to the web site and contact Patrick and Sarah. Thank them for what they are doing and then do what I did. Ask permission to see Brooznoll at their convenience. You'll find, as I did, that they are very good people.