Green hills farm
Encyclopedia
Green Hills Farm is the sixty-acre
homestead
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
where Nobel-prize
-winning American
author
Pearl Buck lived for 40 years, raising her family, writing, pursuing humanitarian interests, and gardening
. She purchased the house in 1933 and lived there until the late 1960s, when she moved to Danby, VT. She completed many works while on the farm, including This Proud Heart (1938), The Patriot (1939), Today and Forever (1941), and The Child Who Never Grew (1950).
The Pearl S. Buck House at Green Hills Farm, an excellent example of 19th century (built 1825) Pennsylvanian architecture
, is constructed of coursed
fieldstone
. It is four bays wide and two deep with the main entrance located in the second bay. Two gable
dormer
s are located on the front and rear slope of the roof. Chimney
s are located on each gable end. When Buck purchased the farmstead, she made extensive alterations and additions to the 19th century farmhouse
, including a two-story fieldstone wing
added to the east gable and two libraries
. Today, visitors can tour twelve rooms of the home and visit the pre-Revolutionary War
cottage
on the property and the barn
built in 1827.
The interior melds the two worlds that so greatly shaped the life of this renowned author. In the large library, two Pennsylvania jugs serve as lamp bases upon a beautifully hand carved Chinese hardwood desk, at which Buck wrote her breakthrough novel The Good Earth
. Buck filled her home with interesting works of original art by Chen Chi
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/139107.htm and Freeman Elliot , iron works of art produced by exile
d artisan
s in China
, Peking Fetti carpet
s that survived revolution
s in China, and some of her own sculpture
s.
The Pearl S. Buck House became a National Historic Landmark
in 1980 and opened as a museum
the same year. The estate, now on the National Register of Historic Places
, is owned and operated by the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. 17,000 people visit each year.
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
homestead
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
where Nobel-prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Pearl Buck lived for 40 years, raising her family, writing, pursuing humanitarian interests, and gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
. She purchased the house in 1933 and lived there until the late 1960s, when she moved to Danby, VT. She completed many works while on the farm, including This Proud Heart (1938), The Patriot (1939), Today and Forever (1941), and The Child Who Never Grew (1950).
The Pearl S. Buck House at Green Hills Farm, an excellent example of 19th century (built 1825) Pennsylvanian architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, is constructed of coursed
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
fieldstone
Fieldstone
Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally...
. It is four bays wide and two deep with the main entrance located in the second bay. Two gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s are located on the front and rear slope of the roof. Chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s are located on each gable end. When Buck purchased the farmstead, she made extensive alterations and additions to the 19th century farmhouse
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
, including a two-story fieldstone wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
added to the east gable and two libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
. Today, visitors can tour twelve rooms of the home and visit the pre-Revolutionary War
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
on the property and the barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
built in 1827.
The interior melds the two worlds that so greatly shaped the life of this renowned author. In the large library, two Pennsylvania jugs serve as lamp bases upon a beautifully hand carved Chinese hardwood desk, at which Buck wrote her breakthrough novel The Good Earth
The Good Earth
The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932. The best selling novel in the United States in both 1931 and 1932, it was an influential factor in Buck winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938...
. Buck filled her home with interesting works of original art by Chen Chi
Chen Chi
Chen Chi was a renowned Chinese painter who became a United States citizen, where he lived and worked for much of his career.Chi was born in Wuxi, Kiangsu, China in 1912. He taught painting at the Wu Pen and Huai Chiu high schools for girls from 1938 to 1944, and at the St. John's University...
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/139107.htm and Freeman Elliot , iron works of art produced by exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
d artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Peking Fetti carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
s that survived revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
s in China, and some of her own sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s.
The Pearl S. Buck House became a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1980 and opened as a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
the same year. The estate, now on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, is owned and operated by the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. 17,000 people visit each year.