Wharton Esherick Farmhouse Sunekrest in Paoli
I have been busy, so I am behind in my photos. And I thought I would take a moment to share something really special: Wharton Esherick’s Sunekrest. Thanks to my dear friend Pattye Benson who is President of the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust, Esherick’s Sunekrest was on their historic house tour in Septmenber – every year I think Pattye can’t possibly do better, and every year she knocks it out of the park. The house tour is a fundraiser for the trust and it is so lovely and one of my favorite things.
Many of the American Impressionists of the time were taking their canvasses out into the fields to paint from nature, and Esherick was longing to get away from the city as well. With a small inheritance he received from his grandmother, he and his wife, Letty, purchased an 1839 stone farmhouse that they nicknamed Sunekrest (pronounced “Sunny Crest”), situated on a five-acre plot in rural Chester County, west of Philadelphia. Esherick focused on his painting and farmed the land to feed his family. His work from this formative period was primarily oil-on-canvas and featured sites and scenes from the bucolic life that surrounded him.
If you are a Wharton Esherick fan, seeing Sunekrest is so amazing. His work, his furniture, a setting so beautiful it takes your breath away. You can read about Sunekrest and other things in the Esherick family papers (partially online thanks to the University of Pennsylvania.)
A great summary of what goes on with the Wharton Esherick Museum which bough Sunekrest to preserve it in 2014 can be found in a grant proposal they completed for the Chester County Community Foundation I think this year.
I love woodcuts, the art of woodblock and Wharton Esherick’s are beautiful. I wish I had one of his prints. You can order restrikes of some of his works and amazing note cards through the museum.
I also love the lines of his furniture. Simple, modern, ahead of his time and he bought out the beauty in the piece of wood he was working with.
Anyway, seeing Sunekrest was so very cool, and the people from the Wharton Esherick Museum are so nice.
Enjoy the photos!!
