Springhouse Farm
Springhouse Farm, the Bucks County home of noted writer Eric Knight, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August of 2007. Heritage Conservancy staff prepared and sent the National Register nomination to the National Park Service in June 2007 after PHMC's Historic Preservation Board determined Springhouse Farm nationally significant for its association with Eric Knight.

Eric Knight was a prominent film critic, screen writer, and author, primarily noted for writing the world renowned book Lassie Come Home . He also wrote The Flying Yorkshireman , and This Above All . He wrote You Play the Black the Red Comes Up under the pseudonym Richard Hallas and worked with Frank Capra on the Why We Fight series of World War II propaganda films. Knight lived at the farm from 1939 until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1943. In 1940, Eric Knight sold all the non-book rights to Lassie Come Home to MGM Studios. In 1943, the very popular movie was released starring Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester, Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor.

Knight's lesser known work, This Above All , was a story set in Britain about the relationship between an army deserter and a nurse during World War II. A 1942 movie based on the book starred Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine. With the money from the sale of the screen rights, the Knights built the small addition that is on the north gable end of the farmhouse, installed central heating in the house and purchased a Nash convertible.

Jere Knight, Eric's wife, was an active member of Heritage Conservancy's Historic Preservation Board for many years. The Knight's dog Toots inspired Eric to write Lassie Come Home , and when the dog died of old age on the farm in 1945, Jere buried her on the hillside overlooking the farm and later marked her grave with a concrete collie statue.

Toots burial site on Springhouse Farm