​Historical Chronology of the Marshall Farm

Prior to Kate and I, there have only been 3 families living on the original 150 acre parcel in Marlborough Township:
  • Thomas and Alice Wickersham family, 1701 to 1805, originally purchased a 150 acre parcel of land and built a single story frame structure in 1701-1702, since torn down. 
  • Milton and Ruth Marshall family, 1805 to the 1940's, built the 2 story brick & stone home in 1836 that still stands & was farmed during this period.
  • John and Anne Hicks family from the -1940's to early 2000's - managed a dairy farm & custom farming operation. Anne Hicks operated a Bed & Breakfast starting in the 1970's.


Renovations to the Inn

​Shirley Hickman owned the Bed & Breakfast for several years from 2006 to about 2010, but the property was foreclosed upon during Real Estate crisis 2008 - 2010. As a result, the home was vacant till we purchased the home in 2016. The priorities of running a farm may not have lent themselves to maintaining the home to current standards, as such the home was in need of significant restoration. The home being without heat & electric for many years only furthered the decline. Since 2016, Kate and I and others have been hard at work bringing the property back to life. We now have opened the Bed & Breakfast to guests. 

Meet your Hosts

Kate and I, (Jan Donofrio) met in 1980 while working at Delmarva Power. We are both engineers and achieved 65 years of combined experience in civil, structural and electrical engineering while working in the Electrical Utility industry at Delmarva Power in Delaware, PECO and also Florida Power of Light, in Naples, Florida.

We have 3 wonderful daughters - Megan, Janna and Gabriella who also have chosen to become successful engineers in their own right.  Megan and her husband, Kevin, have blessed us with 3 amazing grandchildren - Addison, Riley and Tyler!!  O yeah, with Janna engaged to marry Brandon we will soon have another engineer.  We also have a spoiled, but very friendly, Golden Retriever, Kiwi!! Kiwi is mostly out of the Bed and Breakfast in an adjacent apartment where we reside.

During our professional career we had varied experiences in Engineering, Real Estate, Marketing & Planning & Customer Engineering. This gave us the experience and confidence to undertake the significantly necessary restoration efforts at the Milton Marshall home as we prepared to operate the bed and breakfast - as Anne Hicks originally did!!  

We look forward to meeting any and all that come our way here at Fox Creek Farm Inn -- and promise to make every effort to assist you while you enjoy your time in Southern Chester County!!
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