Tour the Pennsylvania home and studio of an outstanding furniture maker and artist.
By Sally Weigand
October 2016
A sculptor of wood furniture who did not like parallel lines or symmetry — this could be one description of Wharton Esherick. He also made smaller objects from wood, such as board game pieces. Esherick’s artistry extended to the publishing trade, too, in the form of hundreds of woodcut prints used as book and magazine illustrations.
Unconventional, sometimes whimsical, Esherick’s furniture and décor pieces were always graceful. A red oak desk was his first piece of furniture, crafted in 1927, and his output continued until his death in 1970. Over the years he sculpted not just furniture and furnishings but also other house interiors, including shelves and cabinets.
As distinctive as his creations is his studio home near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The home is a National Historic Landmark. Construction started in 1926 for a sculpting studio nestled among trees on a hillside near Paoli in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The building evolved over a 40-year span, reflecting the changing styles of the artist — his creativity and practicality. If you look carefully, you can detect that the walls of the main structure are shaped like tree trunks — wider at the bottom. The soft patina of wood in the interior, plus the varied shades of brown, create a warm feeling.
The Wharton Esherick Museum includes the studio, and tours are available by reservation only. Numerous touches fill the home, many of which must be pointed out for visitors to notice. In the spiral stairs — a signature piece he created — Esherick used a mastodon tusk as a handhold. When he built his two-poster bed, he brought it up to the height of the window so he could observe the outdoors while lying down. In the space underneath it, he incorporated long storage drawers for clothing.
Wharton’s furniture lacked knobs and handles. Instead, he concealed finger grips in appropriate locations. From the outside, his desks hide an assortment of compartments and drawers for functional purposes. Lightbulbs built into drawers come on when the drawers are opened. Lighting fixtures he planned and executed decorate the house museum. Dangling from some are the abstract figures that he carved as light pulls.
He shaped the coat hooks on one wall to resemble the men who worked with him to build the studio. A graceful salad fork and spoon join boards and bowls he fashioned for the small kitchen. It’s so full of his own whimsy that you almost expect him to walk through the door at any moment.
In 1940 Esherick incorporated a cube-shaped wood addition to the original studio structure, and a tower followed in 1966. These provided living space for him and his son Peter. By mixing pigment with the concrete during construction, this “silo” was colored to resemble a pastel mosaic.
The garage has a roof that twists in two directions, creating a concave curve on one side, a convex one on the other. Today that garage houses the visitors center.
Esherick married in 1912; in 1913 the couple purchased the land where this home now rests. Originally he worked in the studio on an earthen floor. When preparing to add a solid floor, he discovered nests of termites. Concerned for all living things, he dug out the nests and carried them into the surrounding woods. What remained was a gaping six-foot-deep hole in the studio, for which he had to construct a retaining wall and railing. This space houses his large wood sculptures.
Nothing is displayed behind glass or is labeled; during the tour, visitors learn about the man and his work as a guide takes them through the studio and living area. Listening to stories of the artist’s life and work makes the hour pass swiftly.
A Man Of His Times
Wharton Esherick was born July 15, 1887. His father was a wealthy merchant who never thought his son would make money as an artist. After completing high school, Esherick rejected his father’s plan for a business career and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. A scholarship took him to the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his avant-garde ways clashed with the traditional techniques taught at the time. He quit school weeks before graduating to use the methods he favored.
While working as an illustrator, Esherick was introduced to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, and the book became his favorite for the remainder of his life. The book’s emphasis on respect for the natural world and reliance on items not made by machines inspired the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain; it arrived in America in the 1890s. By 1913, Esherick and his new wife abandoned city life and moved closer to nature: a run-down farmhouse on five acres near Paoli.
In 1919 Esherick suddenly accepted a job far away, in Fairhope, Alabama, where a utopian colony of sorts was a gathering spot for artists and intellectuals. Wharton was hired to teach painting at the School of Organic Education. The brief time in Fairhope changed Wharton’s life forever, for there he was introduced to wood carving. He found he had a knack for it and, when he failed to become a noteworthy painter, he relinquished that dream and never painted again.
The couple returned to Paoli by the end of 1920. Around that time, the Hedgerow Theatre in nearby Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, captured the interest of both Eshericks. This former run-down mill town was the site of an Arts and Crafts commune. Eventually Esherick would complete all kinds of carpentry projects for the theater and build and design stage sets.
In 1926, after he outgrew his barn studio, Esherick and helpers constructed a new studio on top of the hill at his property from which he could look over the valley below.
Esherick’s work in wood carving really accelerated after the Arts and Crafts movement had died out. Exposure of his work at the 1939 World’s Fair brought him respect among architects, but not with the general public. Finally, in the late 1960s, as handcrafted items became more popular, his work became known as a leading influence in a crafts revival. Shortly before he died, Esherick was proclaimed the “Dean of American Craftsmen” — something Thoreau likely would have seconded.
Further Info
More than 300 Esherick items are displayed in the artist’s house museum. His motto, “If it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth doing,” is evident.
Tour reservations are required; call at least 48 hours in advance. On Tuesday through Friday, tour groups must include at least five people. If your group is smaller, call to inquire if you can join an existing tour. There is no minimum group size requirement on weekends, but the maximum limit is 10.
The museum is closed during January and February and on all major holidays. Admission fees are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $12 for students, and $8 for children 12 and under. For more information, contact:
The Wharton Esherick Museum
1520 Horseshoe Trail
Malvern, PA 19355
(610) 644-5822