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Benjamin Parry Mansion

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1784, Mathias Hutchinson, master mason. 45 S. Main St.
  • (© George E. Thomas)
  • (William E. Fischer, Jr.)
  • (William E. Fischer, Jr.)

The Benjamin Parry Mansion follows the order of a gentleman's house in its central-hall, two-room-deep Georgian plan. Its builder, Mathias Hutchinson, built the Buckingham Meetinghouse ( BU27) a generation earlier and demonstrates greater sophistication here in the carefully cut stone facade and the delicacy of the carved wood trim. These features make it the principal early landmark of the community. Operated by the New Hope Historical Society, the Parry mansion is now a museum devoted to regional decorative arts.

Parry's wealth was derived from the waterpowered mill across the street on whose site the Bucks County Playhouse now stands at 70 S. Main Street. Founded in 1939 by St. John Terrell, the playhouse arose out of the presence of the New York glitterati, including Moss Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, and Dorothy Parker, who discovered the charms of Bucks County and by the 1930s made their homes in the New Hope vicinity. Their lives are celebrated in the Michener Museum of Art in Doylestown and by a branch of the James A. Michener Art Museum in New Hope at 500 Union Street.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas

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