Penn House

Mo commented yesterday that the houses on Bootham might be expensive to buy. This is Penn House on the corner of Bootham and St Mary's, and was recently for sale with an asking price of £1.5 million. It was last used as part of Bootham School so will need quite a bit more spending on it if it is to be made into a home again. 
The house was built around 1852 and was called Top House as it is at the top of St Mary's. It was was built for Joseph Rowntree's father, Joseph senior, a grocer and prominent Quaker, who, with Samuel Tuke, established the Quaker Bootham and Mount schools. His widow, Sarah,  lived at Top House until her death in 1888. Joseph junior lived in the house on and off until 1905. From 1905-20 his son the social reformer Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree continued to use Top House as an office. In 1920 Joseph donated the house to Bootham School, when it became known as Penn House.