
Philadelphia Pike has lost many historic buildings, but two stone houses remain on steep Penny Hill, this and the Penny House (BR20). Outcrops of blue rock were quarried nearby from an early date, and the last commercial quarry in New Castle County was in business here making crushed stone as late as 1968 (Philadelphia Pike at Edgemoor Rd). The Weldin House, an L-shaped gable-roofed structure of fieldstone with wood above, housed a popular doughnut shop for two decades starting in 1949. It was the subject of a furor in 2002, when the owner of the dilapidated property announced plans to demolish it for a 7-Eleven store and gas station. Citing traffic concerns, DelDOT announced it would buy the house in order to preserve it.