Within, a wide hall extends through the middle of the house, widening at the back where a handsome winding staircase with landings ascends to the floor above. Opposite the staircase is a breakfast room overlooking the garden. The parlor and dining room on opposite sides of the hall, the bedrooms above and also the halls all have beautifully paneled wainscots. There are handsome chimney pieces in each room with dark Pennsylvania marble facings about the fireplaces and ornamental panels so nicely made that no joints are visible. Throughout the house the woodwork is of unusual beauty and unexcelled in workmanship. The house was built in 1772 by David Deschler, a wealthy West India merchant, the son of an aide-de-camp to the reigning Prince of Baden, and Margaret, a sister of John Wister and Caspar Wistar. After the retreat of the American forces at the conclusion of the Battle of Germantown, Sir William Howe, the British commander, moved his headquarters from Stenton to the Deschler house. While there he is said to have been visited by Prince William Henry, then a midshipman in the Royal Navy, but afterward King William IV of England. Upon Deschler's death in 1792 the house was bought by Colonel Isaac Franks, a New Yorker who had served his country well in the Continental Army and filled several civil commissions after the conclusion of peace with England. He it was who rented the house to Washington for a short period in the early winter of 1793 and again for six weeks in the following summer because of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Here met the President's cabinet--Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox and Randolph--to discuss the President's message to Congress and the difficulties with England, France and Spain. Aside from Mount Vernon, it is the only dwelling now standing in which Washington lived for any considerable time. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIV.--Doorway, 224 South Eighth Street; Doorway, Stenton.] [Illustration: PLATE XXXV.--Doorway and Ironwork, Southeast Corner of Eighth and Spruce Streets] In 1804 the property was purchased by Elliston and John Perot, two Frenchmen who conducted a prosperous mercantile business in Philadelphia. On the death of the former in 1834, the place was purchased by his son-in-law, Samuel B. Morris, of the shipping firm of Waln and Morris, in whose family it has since remained. The interiors remain as in Washington's time, and much of the furniture, silver and china used by him are still preserved, together with his letter thanking Captain Samuel Morris for the valuable services of the First City Troop during the Revolution.