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| Will Price – Rose Valley |
Price began his career at age 17 working in the architectural offices of Addison Hutton. Will and his brother Frank formed their own firm in 1881 and got their first major commission designing suburban houses in Wayne for real estate developers Wendell and Smith. The homes that occupy much of North Wayne are based on the Price brothers' designs.
Though Will Price was born and raised in Philadelphia, his legacy is tied significantly to Delaware County through the homes and other buildings he created in the communities of Wayne, Media and Rose Valley.
Price began his career at age 17 working in the architectural offices of Addison Hutton. Will and his brother Frank formed their own firm in 1881 and got their first major commission designing suburban houses in Wayne for real estate developers Wendell and Smith. The homes that occupy much of North Wayne are based on the Price brothers' designs.
Through his Quaker connections, it is conjectured, that Will Price found his way to the owners of Strawbridge & Clothier Department Store and their partner George W. Vanderbilt to provide the design for the Kenilworth Inn and then to a commission for Woodmont, the future home of steel magnate Alan Wood, Jr.
Price became a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete that was cheaper for constructing industrial buildings and hotels, and allowed for wide spans and soaring spaces. Price's most famous building was the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City.
Over the summer of 1901 Will and a sculptor Frank Stephens purchase nearly 80 acres of land that included a water-powered mill and workers’ houses in the valley of Vernon Run, a tiny tributary of Ridley Creek. The project was to build a self-sufficient community dedicated to "the manufacture of structures, materials and products involving artistic handicrafts”. The community was to have an association which helped run it, and the association held land and private land. Homes were made simply and affordable with workers able to contribute to the processes.
Many of the Price designed homes still exist in Rose Valley including the Price House, the Guest House and the Bishop White House. The community and the Thunderbird Lodge are listed on the National Historic Register. And the community itself has a private school (The School in Rose Valley) and a theatre (Hedgerow) that carry forward many of the concepts envisioned by Price and Stephens.
