Art of Living

In all things, Lucius Crowell enjoyed what was beautiful. In the early 1940s, with his wife, Priscilla (nee Bromley), he purchased a farm in Pennsylvania overlooking Charlestown Valley in Chester County.

Amidst its 65 acres of forest and meadow was a 1800’s farmhouse of fieldstone and a slate-roofed barn. A new wing was added designed by their friend and neighbor, architect Oskar Stonorov. Its fusion of new and old was featured in Holiday magazine noting the current trend to join farmhouses with mid-century elements.  The new wing comprised an open plan kitchen, dining room and a living room with a 12-foot ceiling.  Floor to ceiling glass walls provided spectacular views of the rural valley below.

Into this space came an eclectic collection of furniture and art. Pennsylvaina Dutch chests mingled with Venetian mirrors, chairs by Charles Eames and Wharton Esherik found company with Breton cupboards and everywhere were object d’art from Venini glass, Roman statues, and even a bronze phoenix which gave the name “Phoenix Hill” to the farm.