Tucked away along a sleepy road in the picturesque Brandywine Valley is a personal heaven of mine: Baldwin’s Book Barn, a 19th-century five-story milk barn converted in the 1940s into a book store.
Today, over 300,000 rare and used books, maps, prints, manuscripts, paintings, and other collectibles fill rooms upon rooms, shelves upon shelves inside the barn, a labyrinth of words and worlds — it’s a treasure trove. Here’s a glimpse:
A black cat greeted us in the military history section. He purred and accepted an ear rub as tribute, then proceeded to groom himself.
The barn was an outpost of our tour of the Wyeth country. N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth are the local artistic dynasty, celebrated by the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art. We headed there next.
Useful read:
- 36 Hours in the Brandywine Valley, The New York Times
- Road Trip: Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, National Geographic
- Chester County’s Brandywine Valley: Attractions
Filed under: Pennsylvania, Wanderings Tagged: Baldwin's Book Barn, Book store, Chadds Ford, Chester County, West Chester
