If you’re looking for a new house, Peters Township is your place.

The number of homes built each year routinely reaches triple digits, and the township planning department constantly fields proposals for additional residential developments.

If you’re looking for something older … well, some of those still are around, too.

Although it’s not on the market, the Enoch Wright House on Venetia Road has proved to be one of the most durable and distinctive structures in Peters. Completed in 1816, the house this summer landed a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

“They don’t do it for every property,” said Fred Braun, a longtime member of the Peters Creek Historical Society, which has overseen the house since 1976. “You have to justify being on it.”

In the Wright House’s case, the justification process involved nearly two years’ worth of compiling, submitting and often resubmitting volumes of written documents, professionally rendered site plans, archival-quality photographs and other items. The mass of material was subject to review by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, then recommended to the U.S. National Parks Service, which administers the National Register.

Braun worked on the project with fellow Historical Society member Ruthann Seraly, who had undertaken similar efforts when she lived in New Jersey. Along the way, they learned the Wright House’s qualifications actually had more to do with its architecture than its advanced age or the fact that family members lived there for the better part of a century and a half.

Of particular interest to reviewers was the house’s configuration of wings on either side of the main portion, each with upper floors accessed only by the rear exterior. Such a setup is uncommon to the point of perhaps being unique.

“The thinking is, that was for the farm help,” Braun says. “They could come and go without disturbing the family.”

An alternative line of thinking is that the points of access also could have been put to good use for, say, providing safe places for people. Thus developed the theory that the Wright House might have served as a stop on the Underground Railroad; family members were known to be abolitionists and anti-slavery sermons were preached nearby at Wright’s Methodist Church.

No conclusive evidence exists, but the possibility is raised when Peters Creek Historical Society docents conduct tours of the house. The building is set up to provide a concise yet comprehensive glimpse at what went on locally in years, decades, centuries and even millennia past.

“We are western Pennsylvania history from 10,000 B.C. to the present,” said Liz Bollinger, who serves on the Society’s Board of Directors. Her reference is to a first-floor exhibit put together by anthropologist Benjamin Demchak, complete with mannequins portraying hunting by early American Indians and a display of some of the authentic weapons they used.

Other exhibits are illustrative of the concept Historical Society members had in mind two years ago when they named the property the Museum of Westward Expansion at the Wright House. The intention is to provide a showcase for the role this region played as Americans started branching out to explore their continent.

Of particular interest in that regard is an exhibit developed by local artist-historian Bob Connell, who tells the story of 18th-century Western Pennsylvania in connection with such significant events as the French and Indian War, the American Revolution and the widespread settlement that occurred in their aftermath.

Also relevant to that era is a log house built around the 1790s, toward the rear of the property. The structure, donated by Dr. David Celko, was moved from its original location in western Washington County and reconstructed to serve as an example of the general type of home in which Wright family members probably would have lived prior to 1816.

Other exhibits inside the Wright House feature a collection of vintage clothing, including some from the Civil War era, and a room full of historical mining equipment. The latter has been one of the site’s most popular attraction over the years, attracting mining enthusiasts from a wide area.

In addition to tours scheduled the last Sunday afternoon of each month and by appointment, the Wright House hosts several special events each year. Of note is an annual Civil War encampment, which is an educational opportunity for Peters Township Middle School students.

Because the township has an abundance of newer residents, many newcomers have yet to learn about the Wright House.

“It’s amazing how many people don’t know about it who live within five minutes of it,” lamented Richard Gaetano, another Historical Society board member. But he thinks the National Register designation will gain the house mention in a variety of publications, which in turn should bolster recognition of all it has to offer.

After all, some people are partial to older houses.