The property was first developed industrially in 1750 by John Jacob Huber, a German immigrant and ironmaster. Huber's daughter married William Stiegel, also a German immigrant, and it is Stiegel who built the oldest portion of the house now standing. In addition to making iron, Stiegel also established a glassworks here, which he later moved to Manheim. The property was later acquired by Irish immigrant Robert Coleman. Coleman arrived in North America in 1764, and rapidly rose to control several important ironworks in eastern Pennsylvania, including Hopewell Furnace, Speedwell Forge, and Cornwall Furnace. He apparently began to lease Stiegel's furnace around the time of the American Revolutionary War, and eventually purchased it outright. His management of the ironworks benefited from providing cannons for the war effort, and he died as one of the nation's early millionaires.
