An arts colony on the Delaware. The Bucks County Playhouse since 1939. The Logan Inn since 1727. Travel + Leisure called it one of America's Favorite Towns. Pair the borough with Lambertville on the New Jersey side and you have a single river-town economy that's the most-walkable, most-creative, most-tourist-friendly setup in eastern Pennsylvania.
In 1722, a man named John Wells started running a ferry across the Delaware where the river narrows. By 1764, Emanuel Coryell had taken over the ferry — and Coryell's Ferry became one of the most heavily used river crossings between Philadelphia and New York. George Washington crossed here on December 13, 1776, twelve days before the more famous crossing nine miles south.
In 1790, an entrepreneur named Benjamin Parry bought up most of the local mills and renamed the village New Hope after rebuilding his lumber mill following a devastating fire. By 1814, the Delaware Canal opened along the river — a 60-mile artificial channel that allowed mule-drawn boats to bypass the river's rapids and deliver coal and lumber from upriver to Philadelphia. New Hope became a bustling canal-and-mill town for the next sixty years.
The arts colony arrived in the early 1900s. Painters from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts started buying up old farmhouses and converting them to studios. The "New Hope School" of Impressionists — Edward Redfield, Walter Schofield, William Lathrop, Daniel Garber — became the leading American Impressionist circle. Their work hangs today in the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown and in major American collections worldwide. By 1939, the Bucks County Playhouse — now in its eighth decade as one of America's most prestigious regional theaters — opened in a converted gristmill on the river.
New Hope is a small borough — about 2,500 residents inside half a square mile — that punches dramatically above its weight on cultural amenities. The Bucks County Playhouse runs a full season of national-caliber productions every year. The Rabbit Hole, Stockton Inn, Triumph Brewing, Marsha Brown, Havana, the Logan Inn — restaurants and bars span every price point and culinary direction. The pedestrian bridge to Lambertville, NJ creates a single walkable two-borough economy with art galleries, antique shops, and weekend tourism that approaches Manhattan-level density.
The borough's housing market is unusual. About a third of the homes are second homes — Philadelphia and NYC weekenders. That makes the rental market relatively thin (the second-home tier doesn't rent) and inventory levels deceptive. The school district — New Hope-Solebury — covers the borough plus surrounding Solebury Township and ranks PA top-25.
Six blocks of restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, the Logan Inn, the Bucks County Playhouse, Triumph Brewing. Walkable, dense, intentionally unique.
Cross the pedestrian bridge and you're in Lambertville, NJ. The two boroughs operate as one walkable economy. Antique shops, the Bridge Cafe, Hamilton's, the Boathouse.
National-caliber regional theater since 1939. National touring productions, Broadway tryouts, a strong year-round subscription base. Plus the New Hope Art League galleries.
60 miles of preserved canal towpath, perfect for running, walking, biking. New Hope is roughly the midpoint of the trail. Easton to the north, Bristol to the south.
New Hope has been one of the most LGBTQ-welcoming small towns in the U.S. since the 1970s. Pride parades, the Raven Resort, the Cartwheel Club legacy. That cultural openness has shaped the town's restaurant and arts scene.
That's a feature and a feature. Saturdays and Sundays Main Street is genuinely crowded with day-trippers from Philly and New York. Weekday mornings, the borough is quiet. If you live here, you make peace with the rhythm.
Pre-1900 singles inside New Hope Borough. Walking distance to Main Street. Original architectural detail common.
Pre-1900 singles inside New Hope Borough. Walking distance to Main Street. Original architectural detail common.
Singles with frontage on the Delaware or the Delaware Canal. Premium tier, often historically significant.
Detached singles in surrounding Solebury Township. Half- to two-acre lots, often with mature trees and historic detail. Same school catchment.
1700s–1800s stone farmhouses on multi-acre Solebury lots. The trophy product. Often equestrian, with paddocks or carriage houses.
New Hope is one of those markets where the best properties often trade off-market entirely. Restored borough Federals and Solebury stone farmhouses both have a quiet network of buyers and sellers who don't always go through the MLS.
Tell us what you're looking for — borough Federal, riverside single, Solebury stone farmhouse, or weekend home — and we'll route you to what's worth seeing.
— Prosperity Real Estate & Investment Services