Living in Yardley: A Neighborhood Guide
Situated between history and industry, this former mill town retains its village character.
Lake Afton in Yardley / Photograph by Linda Harms/Alamay Stock Photo
Here from the beginning
When William Penn decided to launch his “holy experiment” in the mid-Atlantic woodlands in 1682, William Yeardley (as it was spelled then) was right beside him. Before leaving England, the Quaker minister bought about 500 acres of land from Penn and established a home for his family called Prospect Farm. His descendants lived there for more than 150 years, by the end of which an industrious village bearing their name had blossomed next to it. The community’s mills and factories produced flour, wheels and spokes, leather, plaster and more, and the Delaware Canal, which runs through the town, took the goods to urban markets. Those mills have all departed, but some of the buildings remain, along with a quaint historic district of 18th- and 19th-century homes.
Washington slept (near) here
Just upriver from Yardley sits one of the most celebrated historic sites in America. Washington Crossing Historic Park (1112 River Road) in surrounding Upper Makefield Township commemorates George Washington’s famous trip across the Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 to take British troops by surprise at Trenton and turn the tide of the American Revolution in the rebels’ favor.
Krysset’s artisan goods / Photograph by Brandon Rodkewitz
Still a village
Though the farms that once surrounded Yardley now sprout houses and strip malls, the borough retains much of its original aesthetic. Several restaurants offer waterside dining, including the Canal Street Grille (27 East Afton Avenue), which dishes out Greek and American fare along the canal (of course). Meanwhile, Vault Brewing Co. serves craft beer and hearty fare from a former bank building at 10 South Main Street. And the house-made gelato at Panna Gelateria & Bakery (25 South Main Street) changes weekly. Krysset, a boutique and gift shop at 6 South Main Street, sells only products made by North American small businesses and artisans. The Pink Daisy (90 West Afton Avenue), up the road in Yardleyville Square, will outfit your home with luxe items from designers around the world.
Ice cream at Panna Gelateria & Bakery in Yardley / Photograph by Evelyn Cirignotta
Heavy traffic at the real estate office
Yardley’s charm has had buyers flocking to the area and bidding up the prices on slim pickings. “Properties are selling pretty quick,” says Joseph Bograd, leader of the Joseph Bograd Team at RE/MAX Elite in Huntingdon Valley. Sellers sitting on the sidelines, he says, have led to numerous bidding wars. “It’s getting frustrating for these buyers,” he notes, adding that he hoped more inventory would come on the market by summer. Prices in Yardley range from about half a million for a townhouse to $1.4 million for a single-family mini-mansion, but since they now sell mere days after homes go on the market, buyers should be prepared to make offers over asking price.
Published as “Living in Yardley” in the July 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
