The Experience
Set on 60 acres of good earth in Bucks County, the 19th-century Green Hills Farm is a monument to the woman who made it home for 40 years: Pearl Buck. Here, Buck wrote nearly 100 novels, children’s books and works of nonfiction while raising seven adopted children and caring for many others. The author is most famous for The Good Earth, her classic 1931 novel about peasant life in China.
The house, its furnishings and surroundings reflect the symbiosis between the two hemispheres: Asian artifacts sit next to Pennsylvania country furniture. While it seems like an odd contrast, it works well, especially when you take in the story of Buck and her work for humanitarian rights and children’s issues, both in Asia and America.
History
Pearl Buck, the daughter of missionaries, moved to Green Hills Farm in 1934, after spending most of her 42 years in China. She chose Bucks County to be closer to her profoundly retarded daughter, whom she had placed in a home in nearby New Jersey. She lived and wrote here until she died in 1973.