Our History.
Friends Village community leadership, circa 1949
Original article commemorating the opening of Styer Hall in Advance of Bucks County, Oct. 25 1979.
Donors Darlington and Helen Styer signing over the property that would become Styer House.
Quaker innovation in aging services for 125 years.
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Quaker philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes, donates $200,000 to support the establishment of “Boarding Homes for the Aged and Infirm Friends and those in sympathy with us.”
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Ground breaking for Paxson Hall, Friends Village’s historic property in Newtown Borough.
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Paxson Hall opens “where aged Friends and those in sympathy with them who desire to be relieved of the care of homemaking or who by reasons of circumstances are deprived of so doing may enjoy all comforts of a congenial and quiet life.”
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Independent Living cottages built behind Paxson Hall.
Quaker and behavioral psychologist Dr. M. Powell Lawton is among the first to recognize a need for unique living spaces designed to accommodate the elderly.
Quakers in the Philadelphia area establish some of the first Continuing Care Communities in the country (now known as Life Plan Communities).
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Quakers Darlington and Helen Styer donate their home and surrounding property on Lower Dolington Road to develop an independent, intentional community affiliated with the historic boarding home.
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Friends Village opens on Lower Dolington Road.
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Recognizing emerging research about flourishing in later life, Friends Village shifts its focus to purpose, community and wellness.
Friends Village community leadership, circa 1949
“Come live with us on the top of the hill
Where the skies are blue and the wind blows free,
Where the cardinal whistles at the break of dawn
And the mockingbird sings from yonder tree.
Come live with us on the top of the hill
Where the orchards grace the sloping green
And the screech owl calls to his feathered mate
While a white moon brightens the midnight scene.”
— Darlington Styer