The Raymond Farm was the home and summer studio of the architects and designers, Noémi and Antonin Raymond. In addition to practicing architecture, they designed furniture, lighting, textiles, ceramics, flatware, and ironwork. In their formative years, the Raymonds worked with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel in Japan. After completion, they decided to remain in Japan and started their own practice. In the course of 15 years, their innovative design approach became globally recognized. Today, Antonin Raymond is known in Japan as well as India as the “Father of Modern architecture.”
In 1939 they returned to the United States and set up a summer studio/home in Bucks County. The Raymonds called this studio/home “the New Hope Experiment” -- an architectural atelier teaching practical design solutions, where their apprentices had hands-on experience with various building trades and crafts, and would include working the land and raising livestock. The Raymonds’ renovations and additions created a distinct work of architecture onto itself -- an early example the integration of Modernist design and traditional architecture. Though in need of minor restoration, the Farmhouse and the Raymond additions remain amazingly intact as built in 1938. This project is a not for profit entity, The Raymond Farm Center for Living Arts and Design. Its mission will be the preservation, repurposing and utilization of the historic structures that make up the Raymond Farm, and the creation of an arts & design center for Bucks County and the Philadelphia and New York regional corridor. Bucks County is famous for its arts and design crafts culture dating from the 19th, through the 20th Century and to the present. With their relocation there from Japan, Antonin and Noémi became part of, and a rich influence upon, the Bucks County arts culture. The Raymond Farm’s location, size and international historical legacy, presents a rare opportunity to create a regional arts and design center. Although Bucks County is already so rich in its artistic heritage, there is so far no facility now serving the Bucks County region with the space and qualities that the Raymond Farm will be able provide. This Raymond Farm Center for the Living Arts and Design would provide programs in the arts, craft and cultural programs. It will act as a conference and educational center dedicated to art and design and their relationship to nature, culture and life style that is consistent with the principals embodied in the life and work of Antonin and Noémi. Of particular focus will be in the mutual influence between American architecture and design and that of Japan. As a major component, it will provide an artist/craftsman residency program. This summer long residency would provide lodging and workspace for master artists and craftsman. These programs would work in conjunction with other active community programs, including week (or two week) long workshop sessions with students, exhibitions, and lectures. The existing barn and out buildings at the Raymond Farm can be repurposed and utilized to accommodate such future programs. The Raymond Farm Center will provide a much needed facility that will support and expand the cultural community of Bucks County and its greater region. The Raymond Farm Center will not be just another “museum house,” but would provide a new vital hub for the arts community and bring international attention to Bucks County. The idea is to start small and build up incrementally and let the final size and scope of the Center take shape organically. We hope to have our first artist in residency program starting with just one summer long artist in residence and eventually build up to multi-session summers with several artists, craftsmen, and designers in residence working in differing studios over the course of the summer months. These would include, woodworkers, furniture makers, ceramicists, glass workers, textile artist, painters, sculptors, iron and metal workers, writers, composers and musicians, as well as architects and graphic designers -- all the media and trades that the Raymond’s themselves utilized in their work. The Raymonds’ Farmhouse will be open to the public for scheduled tours. It will be also utilized for conferences and programs tailored to the design, arts and culture particularly for the Bucks County region. Programs specific to the Raymond connections to Japan, Europe, and the work of the Frank Lloyd Wright will be featured. Continuing education programs for architects and designers will be also be offered. The Center will offer travel study programs to the work of other related architects, as well as trips to Japan to study the Raymond’s work in Japan. Architects, designers and craftsmen of Japan to come visit the Raymond Center as part of a joint symposiums.
