Rose Valley, PA –
Inspired by William Morris.

Elenore Abbott, Rose Valley (folding screen in four parts), c. 1903, oil on panel, 60 x 79 in.

Between 1901 and 1906, architect William Lightfoot Price and colleagues purchased 80 acres in the abandoned mill hollow of Rose Valley to establish a community based philosophically on principles set forth by William Morris in his utopian novel News From Nowhere and, it was hoped, financially on the production of art and craft by artists and artisans working side by side under the aegis of the Rose Valley Association. 

Rose Valley Shops, William Lightfoot Price, Library Table, 1904, white oak, stained, 29½ x 66 x 39½ in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,  Sansbury-Mills Fund, 1991. Accession Number: 1991.145.

The Old Mill at Rose Valley. Photo: Smallbones via Wikipedia.

The commercial aspect of the Rose Valley project would unfortunately fail, and by the end of the decade the Association would be forced to liquidate its holdings to pay its creditors. 

Happily, the social and artistic aspects of the project would thrive: Rose Valley proved attractive to those wishing to apply their creative talents within their living environment, and the community threw itself into a variety of events, including concerts, plays, and dances.

The Rose Valley Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, includes 105 buildings, 7 sites, 10 structures, and 1 object (the Minquas Path Historic Marker on Rose Valley Road). With no sidewalks, Rose Valley illustrates how  suburbanization could have taken a path different from what is typically seen throughout the United States.

During our visit, we will see The Old Mill (the site of the furniture workshops), Hedgerow Theatre (in what was originally Hutton's Grist Mill, c. 1840), and The School in Rose Valley. We will also see Price’s own home, the adjacent “House of the Democrat,” the magnificent manor

The Hedgerow Theatre at Rose Valley. Photo: Smallbones via Wikipedia.

house Philadelphia architect Howell Lewis Shay designed for his own family, and the cluster of houses created by Price in 1911 – 1912 that define his Rose Valley style. 

Ritter and Shay, Howell Lewis Shay House at Rose Valley, 1926. Photo: Smallbones via Wikipedia.

The Rose Valley Museum boasts a collection of Rose Valley furniture, pottery, art, and printing inspired by Price's vision of shared values and engagement, and is housed in Thunderbird Lodge, originally a c. 1790 stone barn that was converted by Price in 1904 into studios for artists Charles H. And Alice Barber Stephens. He appended a fieldstone and stucco house to this structure. The lodge is a living expression of the Arts & Crafts philosophy.

Thunderbird Lodge at Rose Valley. Photo: Smallbones via Wikipedia.