By Leslie Krowchenko, for the Daily Times
ROSE VALLEY – When the Rose Valley Museum learned of an available $23,000 grant through the Decorative Arts Trust, its board knew exactly how it could use the funds: compile a coffee table book.
“Rose Valley Arts & Crafts: 1901 – 1916,” a volume of approximately 300 pages, text and more than 200 images, will be a comprehensive look at the achievements of the early years of the utopian experiment. The hardbound edition, with a letter press dust cover, is slated to be available by July in time to be sold at the Pennsylvania Art Museum’s exhibit on the Arts and Crafts Movement in Philadelphia. A paperback version will be available by Christmas 2026.
“Learning about the grant pushed us to the precipice and the preface,” said Rose Valley Museum photographer and historian Carl Finkbeiner. “Ryan Berley (the curator) felt we needed a book about the arts and crafts of early Rose Valley. This is the type of challenge he likes.”
Founded in 1901, Rose Valley was the dream of architect Will Price, who purchased 80 acres with the aim of creating a community where artisans and craftsmen could live and work. His vision focused on the elements he considered essential to a life worth living: art, education, philosophy, communal activity and access to a beautiful natural environment.
Although the commercial portion of the experiment was not successful, the social and artistic sides were. Rose Valley was attractive to those who saw an opportunity to use their creative talents in their living environment.
The story has been outlined in two books, “A History of Rose Valley (Volume I)” compiled in 1973 by local residents and “A Poor Sort of Heaven A Good Sort of Earth” by William Ayres and Ann Barton Brown for the Brandywine River Museum exhibition in 1983. While both publications are excellent resources, the board felt they needed revising with a broader scope and the addition of color photographs of the work the community produced.
“The museum has so much more material and the sheer volume of new items makes it time for an updated book,” said museum President Sue Keilbaugh. “The older works don’t give people a good picture of what we have and the illustrations will augment that.”
The book will highlight every facet of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Rose Valley, with chapters devoted to the community’s history, architecture, Moravian tiles, furniture and carving, pottery, printing, art and illustration, photography and the living arts. The authors, many of whom are volunteering their efforts, are experts in their respective fields.
“The local community theater, which evolved into Hedgerow Theatre, was such a creative aspect,” said Finkbeiner. “For every chapter, we have discovered things we didn’t know and realize the astonishing things the community accomplished.”
The volume will also bring attention to Price, who designed hotels, gilded-age mansions for the region’s business elite and stations along the Pennsylvania Railroad from Pittsburgh to Chicago. His decision to establish Rose Valley came as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution.
“It seems at times Price has been ignored by the Arts and Crafts Movement and our goal is to make the movement aware of his contributions and those of our community,” said Keilbaugh. “We want Price and Rose Valley to be known on a local, regional, national and international level.”
The volume, which is nearing the final edit stage, will be self-published by the museum, with professional advice on design and layout. The estimated cost is $100,000, funded in part by the Decorative Arts Trust grant and a $25,000 pledge from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
The museum is seeking to raise the remaining $52,000 through private contributions.
To make a donation, visit the museum website at https://rosevalleymuseum.org, use the QR code, or send a check, with Book Project in the memo line, to Rose Valley Museum, 41 Rose Valley Road, Rose Valley, PA 19063.
The museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
