Stephen Hills designed the William Montgomery House you face on South Queen Street in Lancaster. Built in 1803 and designed by Stephen Hills—who also designed the first Pennsylvania State Capitol building in 1803—this mansion has been recognized as one of the best Federal-style buildings in Lancaster. It was owned by William Montgomery, a prominent local attorney.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 2000. In 1960 the next-door Watt & Shand department store bought the property; it sat vacant after that store closed in 1995. When the Lancaster County Convention Center was built during the late 2000s, the house was preserved externally and became a feature of the attached Lancaster Marriott's main lobby.
In 2012 a project began to renovate the interior to convert it to high-end meeting spaces, and the newly branded Montgomery Mansion was slated to open in November 2013. Stand close and feel the Federal lines, the hold of history in the brick and proportions. Imagine Stephen Hills' hand in these elevations and William Montgomery's life within them.
This preserved façade now opens into the Lancaster Marriott's main lobby, folded into the attached convention center.