Benjamin Franklin Home - London

Benjamin Franklin's home is on Craven Street in London. He moved to the city in 1757 and lodged with Margaret Stevenson here at her boarding house in what is now called The Benjamin Franklin House. He was sent by the Pennsylvania Assembly seeking financial aid for the colonists of Pennsylvania and their hardships during the French and Indian War. While living here Franklin, having left his wife and family back home, had adopted Margaret and her daughter Polly as a surrogate family. By 1862 his demands had finally been met and he returned home. In December, 1762 he once again returned to London and the home on Craven Street. This time he was sent in the hopes of having Pennsylvania made a royal colony, but wound up spending much of the next 11 years mediating tension between England and the colonists. In 1775, with the Revolutionary War already begun, Franklin left London for the last time and reached Philadelphia in May. The house on Craven Street was originally built in 1730 and was used primarily as a boarding house, then later a hotel. In ensuing years the house fell into disrepair and was eventually purchased by The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House in 1998. Restoration took place on the home and it opened in 2006 as a museum. It is the only home Franklin lived in for a period of time that still stands. There is a plaque marking the house.

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