Stone Houses: Traditional Homes of Pennsylvania's Bucks County and Brandywine Valley

by Margaret Bye Richie

Stone Traditional Homes of Pennsylvania’s Bucks County and Brandywine Valley is a unique presentation of beloved building traditions in one of the most charming and historically significant regions in the nation. Houses, barns, and outbuildings dating from the colonial and Federal periods, built with local stone predominantly in an English Cotswold vernacular style, represent a form that has become popular across the nation. Geoffrey Gross’s stunning photographs document a remarkable collection of early buildings, including the John Chad House (circa 1720), Peter Wentz Farmstead (circa 1758), and Buckingham Friends Meeting House (1768), as well as more recent designs, in part inspired by such traditional homes, by architects R. Brognard Okie, G. Edwin Brumbaugh, and John D. Milner. Part of the original Pennsylvania Colony founded in March of 1681 by William Penn, the region encompassing Bucks County and the Brandywine Valley is important not only for its history as an early English settlement in the New World, but also for its role as a crucial site in the struggle for American independence. The evidence for this is obvious in the story of its houses. Some notable examples include the Thompson-Neely House at Washington Crossing, in which, it is said, Washington’s officers were billeted during the famous night of his crossing of the Delaware, and Pennsbury Manor, the reconstructed home of William Penn. With its authoritative text and exquisite full-color photography, Stone Houses is a beautiful record of a historically rich regional building tradition.

Genres: Architecture

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2004

Reviews

[Stephen Masri · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old friend

[Servabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheep barns (^^)d

[Justinian]

2008-12 - Stone Houses: Traditional Homes of Pennsylvania's Bucks County and Brandywine Valley. Authors: Margaret Bye Richie, Geoffrey Gross, Gregory Huber. 208 pages. 2005.

I picked up this book from the library. At the library I thumbed through the book and was very impressed with the photography. I knew from previous readings that stone house construction was more common in the Keystone State than any other of the original colonies. Stone construction was used in the construction of Georgian designs which in other colonies were constructed of wood or brick. This extensive use of stone makes Pennsylvania somewhat unique.

This book did little expand my knowledge on the how or the why of stone construction. Surprisingly only about 70 of the houses in this book are actually constructed of stone, others are built of brick. Not every building in this book is a house and several of these buildings were constructed in the 20th Century. Not exactly what I was looking for when I checked the book out of the library.

While the book was not exactly what I hoped it would be I will say that the photographs are beautiful, especially the interiors. The accompanying text tends to focus on provenance and therefore who and when. The text provides little as to the why or the distinctive features. A good book as a pretty coffee table book.

[brian tanabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I can't live in a castle I must live in at least a stone house sometime before I die. Or perhaps even a cute little stone cottage.

I would have enjoyed this book more perhaps if it wasn't so geographically limited.