Now and Forever

Everyone who cares about preserving the rural character of Falls Village (and isn't that all of us?) should say thank you to Mary and Richard Lanier whose farm on Brewster Road across from the library helps give the village its picture postcard quality. Last week, the Connecticut Farmland Trust announced that an agricultural conservation easement for the 38 acre farm known as Grassy Hill had been donated to the Trust. This means that the property will remain farmland forever.

According to a press release issued by the Trust, "Grassy Hill is an integral part of the Falls Village landscape. It has been farmed continuously for over 260 years, first under the name of Grassy Hill and later, in the early twentieth century, as the Mead Farm. In 1992 it was bought by Mary and Richard Lanier, who revived its original name, which appears in local land records as early as 1753. The Laniers have a small number of all natural, grass-fed beef cows and provide pasture in the spring, summer and fall to the last full-time dairy farmer in Falls Village.

An aerial photographic survey made by the State of Connecticut in 1934 shows almost all of the 38 acres of Grassy Hill to be open farmland. But between then and the Laniers’ purchase of the farm, only a portion of the property was used for farm-related purposes, including a period in the 1940s and 1950s, when it was the site of the Berkshire Mink Farm. As a result, the once open fields became overgrown with cedars, wild roses, barberry bushes and other invasive species. The Laniers have worked for the past 15 years to reclaim the open farmland by clearing the property and returning it to its previous state. Thanks to those efforts, almost 25 acres are again usable, primarily as pasture. They estimate that restoring the remaining 13 acres may require an additional 3 years."

And if you enjoy the view of the Lanier's farm from the road, you should see the view of the town from their property. It's another postcard view, and the hill behind their house is where the Congregational Church has its Easter sunrise service.