1897

Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw (1869-1926) designed and built the Ragdale House and Barn as a summer retreat for his family. The Shaw family was a creative one: Howard himself an architect, his mother Sarah a painter, his wife Frances a poet and playwright, and his daughter Sylvia a sculptor.

"Howard Shaw named his new country house 'Ragdale' after an old Tudor house in Leicestershire, England, more because he liked the name itself than because the house was one of his favorites. To him, Ragdale meant meadows and woods and hollow apple trees and country vistas. The raggedy look of the shrubbery, the low hanging branches of trees, and the invasion of the lawn by violets were all deliberate effects. He was aiming for informal country surroundings for his house, not a well-groomed estate."

-Alice Hayes and Susan Moon, Ragdale: A History and Guide.