D. Owen Stephens came to Rose Valley in 1905 with his parents, Charles H. and Alice Barber Stephens, when he was 10 years old. He was an only child. As a teenager, he and his friends Margaret and Billy Price were assigned by the Rose Valley Folk to keep a record of their activities, which today gives us an invaluable glimpse into the early life of the community.

He was an artist who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Afterwards, he lived in Chaddsford for a year, while he studied with N.C.Wyeth. He painted many of the sets for the Rose Valley Players and the Rose Valley Chorus. He became a draftsman for the architect, Charles Klauder.

From childhood his passion was for astronomy – his parents added an observatory to their house for him – and he used his talent as a painter to depict night skies, correct in all astronomical detail. In 1937 he was sent by the Museum of Natural History in New York to paint the total eclipse in Peru. His paintings of that eclipse hang in various planetariums around the country, including the Museum of Natural History in New York and the Buell Planetarium in Pittsburgh. He died suddenly on his way home from Peru.

He married Margaret Price’s college friend, Lucie Logan. They were two of the twelve incorporators of the School in Rose Valley in 1929. His works are in the collection at the Brandywine Museum.