Co-founder of Jones and Laughlin Steel Co. Benjamin Franklin Jones was a well known steel and iron magnate during the 19th century. Jones had a successful career and even served as the chairman of the Republic National Committee from 1884-1888.
In 1887, after vacationing at the Mountain House Resort, a popular resort for the Pittsburgh elite to escape the confines of the city during the summer, Jones built a cottage in Cresson, PA. The cottage was to serve as his summer home. He hired Joseph Stillburg to design the building right next door to Andrew Carnegie's "Braemar" cottage.
The 1887 Engineering & Building Record states that Stillburg has "prepared plans for a cottage on the top of the Allegheny Mountains here [Cresson] for Hon. B. F. Jones of Messrs. Jones and Laughlins.
The three-story Queen Anne house still lies on top of hill. In 1903, Jones died and the cottage was willed to his wife, Mary McMasters who ended up giving it to the State Department of Health for use as a Tuberculosis Sanitorium in 1910. In 1923, the State sold the cottage to aviator DeLloyd Thompson. The property is now in private hands after a close call when almost demolished in 2009.
Sources:
1. "Benjamin Franklin "B.F." Jones (1824-1903) National Park Service. Last Updated: April 8, 2017.
2. Engineering & building record and the sanitary v.16 June-Nov. 1887 - p. 625.
3. HouseHistree - by Mark Meredith Contributed: 27/11/2018.
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