About Us

Homestead Guesthouse Bed & Breakfast is situated in the heart of Lancaster County...

The Homestead Guesthouse is located on the Homestead of Christian Smucker.

Christian Smucker, his wife Catherine, and their four children, Christian Jr., John, Frany, and Jacob, started their journey from Switzerland to America on May 8th, 1752. They arrived in Philadelphia on September 1752.

Christian Smucker was the third owner of the Homestead. He bought it in 1760, but the official deed and parchment was not signed until March 24, 1762. They were a happy family as Christian celebrated owning land for the first time in his life. 147 acres to support his family which had grown by two since they had come to Pennsylvania. Barbery and Peter were the newest members of the Smucker family.

Christian Smucker died in November of 1782 at 64 years of age. In his will Christian Smucker bequeathed to his wife Catherine 5 gallons of liquor a year and 2 gallons of apple cider a year, among other things. His oldest son Christian Jr inherited the Homestead where our guesthouse now stands.

Entering the farm lane, you see open fields on both sides; corn, alfalfa or wheat grows in them. You are entering a peaceful, quiet world.

As you are on the farm, you may ask questions about farm life, gather eggs, feed the animals, help in the garden, clean the stalls and barns - and even watch us build sheds and playhouses. How about milking the family cow at 6:00 in the morning?

Enjoy a delicious home-cooked, full-course breakfast from our kitchen (except Sundays).

The guest quarters are for your relaxation and comfort. The sitting room overlooks the farm, and the bedroom overlooks the garden and pastures.

Stephen Stoltzfus the current owner is 7 generations from Christian Smucker. Stephen his wife and their children will be your hosts when staying at the Homestead Guesthouse.

About Garden Time Cottage

Garden Time Cottage is an historical cottage located on the John Ellmaker Homestead.

the land was purchased from William Penn by John and Margaret Ann Ellmaker in 1731. Their first home was a log cabin where the big brick house now stands. During the revolutionary war, the Ellmakers sent wagons of food to Washington’s army while it wintered at Valley Forge. General Washington reciprocated by sending the wagons back loaded with bricks that'd been used as ballast on ships crossing the Atlantic with supplies.

Bricks were precious in those days. The Ellmakers used them to build this small cottage. Their family later built the large main house. The large main house has big chimneys for six fireplaces. Four of them were used for cooking.

The Christian Smucker farm and the Ellmaker farm were neighbors and friends in those early years of homesteading. In the early 1700's neighbors helped each other and farmed and dressed very similar. Christian Smucker and his family were Amish, but there were not a lot of differences in the lifestyle between the Smuckers and the Ellmakers. They both farmed with horses and helped each other with harvest and barn raisings.