Baldwin Book Barn

I haven’t been here in a few years, but it was my first introduction to the concept of a «book barn» and it’s the yardstick that I measure every other «book barn» I’ve been to since by (and the rest always come up short). Located in the rolling, bucolic countryside of West Chester, it is, as others have mentioned, an old (and often chilly; bring a sweater or coat if you visit in winter) barn with 5 floors (I think) that you can lose yourself in for a day (or several). I used to find it pleasurable just navigating the various floors and rooms. Crammed with books of every description, and the pace is leisurely; no one gives you a hard time (or at least they didn’t when I was a regular patron) about lounging about and browsing. The only down side is that the books aren’t cheap; you pay for what you get, sometimes dearly. But if you love books, and live anywhere in the Mid-​Atlantic region (or are visiting), I don’t see how a book lover could possibly bypass this place.

Fantastic selection, kind owner and multiple friendly nooks in which to settle in. Also houses a barn cat, grouchy but appropriately so. They even allowed our dog in while we browsed. Definitely check out this gem!

My only complaint is that I did not have a whole day to spend here. If you are a book lover you MUST visit. This is a unique bookstore in a barn with five floors filled with nooks and crannies teeming with books floor to ceiling on every subject from antique to newer releases. You have the feeling you could stumble across a treasure at any moment. You are left free to wander and browse to your hearts content and, believe me, you should plan on a long visit.

One of my favorite places in SE Pennsylvania, and well worth the side trip if you are traveling between Philly and points south on 476.
As advertised, 5 stories of books, and done in the old school used bookstore, it is labyrinthine, it is a barn so it is either too cold or too hot, but it is a great great storehouse of books.
I have never been here once that I haven’t found something awesome.
One has to take their time, and know a bit what you are after, though. I visited recently, and was just glad it was near the same, but didn’t have the time to really go through the stacks.
BBB does a ton of volume, so if you are careful and know what you are doing, you can catch pricing mistakes. I have found some nice modern firsts, and poetry particularly, in firsts, with dj priced quite nicely (for me).
My first edition Old Man and the Sea with dj, came from Baldwin, and I did point that out to the person in charge at the time, it was priced at $ 25. They agreed it was their pricing, so I could have it. This was years ago though.
I do try to be nice and ask about pricing discrepancies when I find a find, but the attitude always is a good bookselling attitude, we had the chance to price it first, if we messed up, well its on us. Good place to hunt if you are a book collector, great place even.
Even if you don’t find a diamond lying about, I almost always find something interesting. Again, this is a place to spend an afternoon picking through. There are also some great restaurants near by. Great place to drive to on a Saturday afternoon, book for a bunch of hours, and go out for dinner and some music in Malvern.
For all you NY types, Baldwin’s makes the Strand look like amateur hour. Much more floorspace, and just as crowded = more books, and the Strand is so picked over, where at BBB you can find a great first edition everyone has ignored.
Tattered Cover and Powell’s are the only places that come close.

We spent Thanksgiving visiting my sister, and this was on the list of places to check out.
We rolled up right at opening time, and were welcomed and offered maps of the store. As others mentioned, there are bookstore cats tootling around in the stacks, so watch your step. Also if you are tall, watch your head as there are low beams in some of the rooms! It gets chillier and smokier as you move up through the building (in the winter at least), and the fiction room (easy to miss) was soooooooooo cold.
We will return again when the weather is that perfect mix between not too cold and not too hot.

Five Floors Stacked With Books
Baldwin’s Offers the best finds
Between Two Covers
#Haiku
#NOLA_​Haiku

What a most special place! Each level of the barn reveals a new cat. You can spend a whole afternoon wandering through the dizzying maze of floor to ceiling books, browsing through the seemingly endless sections and getting to know all the cats. And books everywhere, filling every nook. Most are rare volumes that I had never seen before. I bought a pretty little illustrated book on herb cookery. If you’re going to the Brandywine Valley, this is a must-​visit kind of place!

I love going to the book barn. Every time I go there is always a cat to greet me in the parking lot when I arrive. The building itself is old and it’s beautiful. It has a personality all of its own. When you enter, the staff is very friendly and they welcome you like they were welcoming you into their own home. The store is very well organized, especially for being all used books. It could take days to go through all five floors of the building. I would highly recommend a visit for anyone who enjoys books.

This place is unique! Tons of books from this century and the last one! Five floors of books from this century and last century, in fact.
Also: Cats. We found at least two well-​fed cats wandering the property… Well, one wandering, and the other sleeping inside. The wandering one greeted everybody that got out a car or walked in from the road. Very friendly!
All in all this was a neat experience, and I wish we’d had more time… There were so many books!

Incredible place! I am certainly a book nerd, so was keen to check out this place after reading some Unilocal reviews. It definitely lives up to the hype! There are 5 floors, thousands of books (I believe the owner told me he has been collecting since 1946!). All the books are well organized. There is a private parking lot and plenty of seating area on each floor if you want to take your time browsing through a book. As other reviewers mentioned there are quite a few cute cats. I purchased three unique books from the early 1900s. Can’t wait to read them.

This place is awesome. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. I was here most recently in December and came away with an armful of books on psychology and sociology– some older, some published quite recently– that I couldn’t wait to read, all for about $ 50. The setting itself is really cool– a giant, multi-​floored barn just filled to the brim with old books. The floor creaks when you walk around, and there are cats running around (and farting, my dad and fiancé swear). Great place that I definitely make a point to visit when I’m in the area– you can just get lost for hours.

A really neat place, filled to the gills with books. Carve out a rainy afternoon to spend looking through the place. In nice weather, bring a picnic to have after lazying amongst the books. Could be a great little date spot, too!

Go here and get lost for an afternoon. So many books it will make your head spin. Great atmosphere and friendly staff.

A very unique bookstore. Expect to find tons of books that you’ve probably never heard of here. One of my friends from Germany ended up buying a lot of old yearbooks because she found them fascinating. Definitely check this place out if you are in the area.

This is a fantastic bookstore that rivals Powell’s in Portland, Oregon. The owner has several cats, including a charming Bombay cat who loves to be petted. The store is literally in a refurbished barn, with 4 full floors of books. It is one of the most organized used bookstores I have ever seen, with a floor map that you can carry with you as you browse. It has half a floor dedicated to U.S. history, including local history about Philadelphia and its suburbs. I love to collect cookbooks, and I found a few gems here. If I lived closer to this place, I would come every weekend. I highly recommend it.

Huge headline in the local paper that Baldwins would be sold, but its fate remains unknown. If I hear about a liquidation sale, I’ll post it here. Please oh please let this place continue!

I don’t even remember how I found this place. I know it was quite a bit out of my way while I was in Philadelphia for a speaking engagement. I think I stopped at a visitor center in Kennett Square and grabbed a handful of brochures, saw this one that said something about used books, and thought, «Why not?»
I was not expecting what I found. I quite literally spent over two hours here, trudging through every stack, every floor, and thumbing through a score of potential purchases. Books, books, books everywhere, crammed wherever there was space. Modern books, used books, rare books, all living harmoniously side-​by-​side. The atmosphere was quaint and unpretentious — and the place was heated by a wood-​burning stove that lost its potency with every set of stairs I climbed. It had a feeling that this was just some old book collector’s private (albeit enormous) stash of books and you were invited to take a look.
In the end, I made a great buy of a very inexpensive book published in 1842. It’s now one of my more prized possessions, and I keep the receipt and brochure tucked inside the front cover so I’ll remember this place.

Ah, Baldwin’s Book Barn. My haven, my home. 5 stories of books (har har). Once you enter a kindly old gentleman is usually there to greet you as are at least one of the several cats that roam the barn. If it’s your first time take one of their maps– you will get a little lost (not that that is a bad thing). The various rooms are stuffed to the gills with books, some new, most old, all infused with that slightly acrid, magical musty smell. The floorboards are cranky with age and through the chinks in the wall you can feel a draft. It’s fabulous. You can spend hours browsing, or picking a little nook and settling with a book into a chair.
However, for all the books they have, if you are going with a title in mind, you might come away slightly disappointed that you didn’t find it. I recently went looking for Faulker & Nabokov, and found NO titles by Faulker save an abridged reader (seriously, that was it) and even less from Nabokov (zip. zilch.) I had to high-​tail it to B&N.
But to browse, loaf around, and discover gems, it’s the BEST.