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Juan Vidal
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Juan Vidal
by Cynthia Marone
As an architect, Ralph C. Fey feels the magnitude of his relationship with New Hope every time he works on a project in the borough, which has included structures wrapped in centuries of history. “I grew up in Doylestown, but I went to New Hope to see the theater, Odette’s, the Logan Inn,” said the architect and founder of Doylestown-based Ralph C. Fey, AIA Architects PC. “I have reverence for New Hope in my life.”
Whether as a mill town, transportation hub or tourist spot, the borough nestled in Bucks County has always had a combination of history and uniqueness that is alive throughout the area, and most especially in its buildings. Each one, it seems, talks, and they routinely speak to Ralph. “A building will tell us where we have been, where we are and where we are going,” Ralph, who has been the architect for the Ghost Light Inn and its restaurant Stella by Jose Garces and the Logan Inn, said. “At any given time, it looks back and forward.”
Ralph has been tapped about 10 times over the last 14 years as the architect for commercial, hospitality and residential buildings throughout New Hope, and with each one, he sees the past, present and future. His approach of respecting the past, as well as reconnecting structures to the town’s natural wonders, is not only giving new life to the buildings and spaces at well-known spots but it’s also influencing and shaping the town as it moves into its next phase.
New Hope of today may seem to only burst at the seams Fridays through Sundays, but that was not always the case. Before becoming an artist enclave and tourist hotspot, New Hope was a mill town, and being halfway between New York City and Philadelphia, a critical stop for travelers. The waterways also were vital with a canal system that once saw 3,000 boats pass through annually. With transportation changes during the late 1800s came the still operating New Hope-Ivyland Railroad. About this time, artists began settling in New Hope, attracted by its natural beauty. Making the town an artists’ haven grew to include theater, and in 1939, the Bucks County Playhouse was born.
With so many identities and transformations, came people, and with them, came buildings. According to a National Register of Historic Places form, a map from the late 1700s showed 33 structures in New Hope. By the 1850s that number had ballooned to 160 and that number jumped once again to 210 less than three decades later. These structures were made of stone, brick or frame, which is usually wood or steel, in styles such as Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne, per the form. As of 1985, according to the form, there were more than 20 structures from the 18th century still existing in the town.
The past lives on in many of the buildings scattered throughout the borough, but revamped structures are calling back to the past while also stepping into the future and fulfilling the current needs of New Hope. The Ferry Market is one such structure. The casual fresh food hall added aspects New Hope had been lacking, from the ability to grab an on-the-go bite to accessible bathrooms to places to sit and rest when taking in the town. At 32 S. Main St., it was the former home of the Four Seasons Mall. The gourmet market, which has stands serving breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as wine, desserts, chocolates and more, has opened up the space and added al fresco dining. The mall, though, was only the first stop in terms of research. Ralph and his team looked to its more distant past of the 1950s and ’60s. “This is in a building that was a car dealership. It evolved into a retail store but had lost its connection to the town. This was an opportunity to reconnect the building to the town,” Ralph said.
Ralph, along with the husband-and-wife team of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty who were behind the market’s creation, made the market look like it immediately belonged by respecting the original terraced structure as it morphed into its current open air feel. The roof from the building’s corner was removed and there was a callback to the former façade with a trio of openings in the walled garden, fountains and custom-designed gates. The industrial-type materials chosen for the market, many of which were locally sourced, creates a pier-like feel via exposed trusses, natural metals, skylights and a concrete floor. This connection to the water is natural as the market sits right on the Delaware River and its next phase of design will cement the bond by including a waterfront restaurant with a retractable roof. “We celebrated the roots so that it fits into the fabric of the town,” Ralph said. “It opens itself to the street with rollup doors. People flow into the building. There are aspects of each project that make me smile, usually when I go see them. At the Ferry Market, I see families and children coming over, sitting out front, and friends coming by.”
Having people feel welcome and comfortable are the lifeblood of Ralph’s projects and the same can be said of chef Jose Garces’ many restaurants throughout Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. The two joined forces for Stella, the Iron Chef’s first eatery in Bucks County. Housed in the Ghost Light Inn, which is owned by the Daughertys, the restaurant at 50 S. Main St. serves American small plates inspired by the farms of Bucks County. “I love locally sourcing ingredients, and this area is primed to accommodate that,” Jose said. “The architectural design of Stella draws nature into the space through its outdoor dining option that aligns with our menu concept.”
Formerly the Playhouse Inn and most recently Club Zadar, the space was dark for years after the nightclub closed, though there was a gym in the building, Ralph said. “It deteriorated from lack of use, and being built in a floodplain, it flooded numerous times,” Ralph added. “When a historical building is in a floodplain and not on stilts, you waterproof every aspect, using materials that won’t perish — not Sheetrock or wood.”
Though water can destroy if the proper adjustments aren’t made, that ribbon of natural beauty almost always turns out to be a star attraction. Stella embraces its location with a terrace that gives patrons views of the river from almost every angle. The 80-seat restaurant, which uses existing stonework from the original building to create a graceful connection between the eatery, the inn and the banquet areas, also invites natural light to shine through its large windows and on to its hand-troweled plaster walls and handmade tile flooring. “There’s a synergy of having it near the waterfront and the Bucks County Playhouse,” Ralph, who is a board member of Heritage Conservancy, the New Hope Historical Society and New Hope Arts, said. “Stella was a joy.”
Stella and the 12-room Ghost Light Inn, both of which opened in 2019, have a flow that joins each one not just to the other but to the outside world. Having both rollup and bi-folding glass and steel doors on the inn’s lower floor that open to the waterfront promenade, as well as riverfront rooms that have Juliet balconies overlooking the river, reinforces the bond with nature. “This idea of connectivity to nature, open and tasteful design and fresh food options really lends itself to the evolution of New Hope,” Jose, who is behind restaurants such as Tinto, Village Whiskey, Amada and Distrito, said. “We’re in a charming, beautifully renovated historic building and area that is at the same time thoughtfully designed to accommodate the flexibility we need in an event space — from private bars to outdoor seating with sweeping views of the river in a comfortable and contemporary setting.”
Strengthening these ties to nature’s bounty is one way Ralph’s work is shaping the borough, while another is his appreciation of history, which includes renovations and a three-story addition to Bucks County’s oldest continuously run inn. “The Logan Inn came before the bridge to Lambertville. That history is beyond cars — it’s horses on a ferry to cross the river,” Ralph said of the inn that started life as the Ferry Tavern in the 1700s. “We have great respect for the scale of the space, the look of the building.”
That respect literally connects to the past, as the changes include 22 new guest rooms, dining, bar, banquet and conference spaces and a conservatory garden pavilion with a glass link that joins it to the historic building. The addition itself is in the Victorian French Empire style with a mansard roof while the renovations also include removing an interior wall, joining the bar with the fireplace room, opening up the lobby and reinstating the wraparound porch. “The addition is subservient. What we are doing is to complement the inn but in no way take from it,” Ralph, who launched his architectural firm in 1996 after stints at QVC and The Hillier Group Architects, said.
Ralph describes his architectural style in simple terms: He doesn’t have one. It may be difficult to comprehend, but it’s easy to understand when looking at what he is doing in New Hope. “Our job is to preserve; it’s not meant to be seen,” Ralph, who lives in Doylestown in an 1860s stone home he is restoring with partner of 20 years Holly Reed, said. “It’s the highest compliment that our work feels like it belongs. It’s respectful but of the time we are living in. Some firms have a signature. We want people to enjoy it not because of a theme or a signature but because it’s appropriate and celebrates the town.”
The Logan Inn at 10 W. Ferry St. is the first project in New Hope owners Jeanne and Frank Cretella of Landmark Hospitality and Ralph combined their talents on. Through sheer word of mouth, Frank said he thought Ralph would be perfect for the job, which in turn has led to collaborations that have included the Mansion Inn at 9 S. Main St. and Nurture Spa at 31 W. Ferry St. Yet it is the changes happening at the Logan Inn, which are expected to be completed in spring 2020, that could transform the town once again. “The biggest change to New Hope, for me, will be the increased number of guestrooms that will make it more desirable for corporate retreats and conferences,” Frank said. “These usually take place on weekdays and this will put people in the stores and restaurants when the town is generally slower.”
One of Ralph’s first forays into the borough’s architecture was revamping the inside and outside of clothing store Savioni Designer Boutique at 10 S. Main St. about 14 years ago. With longtime personal and professional connections to New Hope, it is clear a building here is more than just a job. “The architecture throughout New Hope shows it is a special place,” Ralph, who also was the architect for Nektar at 8 W. Mechanic St. as well as several residential homes in the borough, said. “It’s not enough to do an ok building. The building must contribute to the fabric of New Hope.”
Since the age of 7, Ralph has been a type of dream weaver. Creating came easy, especially with three Erector sets to toy with as a kid, and he absorbed even more ideas during family travels to such far-flung places as Egypt and, though he is a Central Bucks West graduate, while attending high school in Korea. At the latter, he took in the architecture of Asia, including Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. He earned his degree in architecture at Syracuse University in New York before heading overseas once again to Europe to study at the Polytechnic of Central London and the Architectural Association School of Architecture, also in London. Standing before some of the oldest, most revered structures in the world has had a lasting effect. “Touching monuments that are a 1,000 years old, wondering how an obelisk was quarried, you have an appreciation for the artisans throughout history and the artists of the culture, yet they are also here today,” he said.
Buildings have always talked it seems, but they are also links to the past and conduits to the future that can celebrate and connect people to the world around them in the present. They may say a lot, but as Ralph is keenly aware, time is the only true storyteller. “Our work lives long after us,” he said. “I hope the buildings I’ve done in New Hope the Historical Architecture Review Board says we need to preserve, that they blend into the fabric of New Hope.”
Ralph C. Fey, AIA Architects PC is located at 300 N Broad St, Doylestown, PA. for more information, call 215-489-2042, email design@rcfarchitects.com or visit www.rcfarchitects.com.
Cynthia Marone is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Northeast Philadelphia.