Group to purchase Highland Farm as Oscar Hammerstein Museum in Doylestown

At long last, the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center will be able to buy the farm.

A $500,000 gift from the estate of philanthropist Ronald Franklin Platt will allow the group to secure Highland Farm, the Doylestown Township sanctuary where famed lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II wrote some songs made famous in musicals like "The Sound of Music" and "Oklahoma."

The organization has worked for more than eight years to secure the funding needed to save the farm on East Road, now used as a bed and breakfast. Its current owner is Christine Cole, according to the Bucks County Board of Assessment. Cole could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

Oscar Hammerstein II and his wife Dorothy bought the farm in 1940 and he lived there until his death in 1960. He wrote songs like "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'" while at the farm.

"We were excited and honored to receive this timely and generous donation from Mr. Pratt," said Greg Roth, board president. "He leaves a wonderful legacy which will be providing future generations with the opportunity to learn about musical theater and Oscar Hammerstein's notable works and his messages of acceptance and inclusivity."

More: Is Hammerstein museum coming to Doylestown? Plan to save Broadway legend's local legacy

A friendship made on Facebook

Oscar Hammerstein's grandsons, Oscar "Andy" Hammerstein III and William Hammerstein of Solebury, befriended Pratt on Facebook.

Andy Hammerstein said, "It quickly became clear that he (Pratt) possessed both a vast knowledge of my family's history and generous temperament," Andy Hammerstein said. "He was a genuine rarity-a true gentleman...I honestly feel like a lucky man to have known him."

"Ronald Pratt’s generosity was only surpassed by his knowledge of Oscar Hammerstein and Broadway history in general," said Will Hammerstein. "We had planned on curating the museum together. And while he told me he had provided a significant bequest in his will, I had no idea it would be this generous. He was obviously a very special person."

Will's wife, Mandee, said she became emotional when she heard what Pratt had done. "I was actually tearing up," she said. Her husband personally spearheaded the early days of the campaign to save the farm, showing up at Doylestown Township supervisor and zoning meetings where its future was discussed.

"He worked tirelessly as a volunteer," she said.

The museum board originally wanted to build a theatre at the site but community opposition to that proposal based on the effects traffic would have on the surrounding neighborhood led to the township denying the zoning needed. Cole and an organization then called Oscar Hammerstein's Highland Farm filed a court appeal in Bucks County Court but the parties negotiated a "stipulation agreement" signed by Judge Alan M. Rubenstein in October 2016 which allowed for the farmhouse and barn to be used as a museum.

Land development granted

In 2020, the property received preliminary and final land development approval from the township supervisors. Township Manager Stephanie Mason said that once the sale is finalized, the center will need to put up escrow money to begin the renovation of the barn site for use as part of the museum with the farmhouse.

The gift was part of $567,000 raised to match $500,000 offered by the non-profit's executive committee that allowed the center to raise the more than $1 million needed to purchase the farm and keep the house and barn there as a combined museum and education center.

" Our ultimate vision is to build a museum to honor Oscar’s legacy open to the public, with a strong theatre education program that will provide underserved communities the opportunity to pursue their passions in theatre," the center states on its website.

"Highland Farm is the place where Hammerstein forged his legendary partnership with Richard Rodgers and that inspired many of their greatest musical works, including The Sound of Music, Carousel, The King and I, Showboat, Oklahoma! and South Pacific," the center noted.   Hammerstein had mentored the late composer and lyracist Stephen Sondheim at the farm.

"Over 75 Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards and Pulitzer Prizes can be directly traced back to Highland Farm."

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Oscar Hammerstein Museum group gets funding to buy Doylestown farm