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Positively Philadelphia: The Pearl S. Buck House

By Lauren Lipton

PERKASIE, Pa. (CBS) -- Looking to take a day trip in the Philadelphia area?  Why not visit the Pearl S. Buck House, in Perkasie, Pa.?

"We really have a gem here in Bucks County, just outside of Philadelphia," says Pamela Carroll.  "It's a historic house of an amazing, legendary woman."

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(Pamela Carroll, in the Pearl S. Buck house. Photo by Lauren Lipton)

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Carroll is the marketing director for Pearl S. Buck International.   She says this area seemed made for the noted author and humanitarian, who spent most of the first 40 years of her life in China.

"She was looking for a home, and she drove up and fell in love, and looked out at the vistas out of her window and said it reminded her of China," Carroll tells Positively Philadelphia!

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(Pearl Buck said the gently rolling grounds around her home reminded her of the decades she spent in China. Photo by Lauren Lipton)

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You will fall in love, too, with the house and its award-winning gardens, which Buck initially bought for $4,100.

 

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(A courtyard of the Buck House, in Perkasie, Pa. Photo by Lauren Lipton)

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"Out of all the national historic landmarks, there are about 300 that uphold the legacy of a woman, and this is believed to be one of ten that actually has an 'intact collection' -- which is a fancy way of saying that we have her stuff," notes Carroll.

That "stuff" includes the desk where Buck wrote The Good Earth and so much more.  There are pictures and  portraits of the woman who went on to win both a Pulitzer and a Nobel prize, some of her clothes, and  room after room of beautiful objects, gifts, and other things that  give you insight into this amazing woman and the way she lived her life.

 

Hear Lauren Lipton's extended interview with Pamela Carroll in this CBS Philly podcast (runs 5:08)...

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And for this week, that's "Positively Philadelphia!"

"Positively Philadelphia" main page

 

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