In the early twentieth century, William L. Price trended away from history, but Philadelphia's arguably most successful architect of the 1920s, Howell Lewis Shay, designed a medieval manor house for himself that missed most of the points of Rose Valley, running counter to the prevailing simplicity as well as ignoring its local palette. Nonetheless, the house is wonderful—a glistening pile of schist interspersed with brick and crowned by a Cotswold-thick slate roof. Shay's tenure was short-lived as the Great Depression slowed his firm's work and the house was soon sold.