Farm

In 1790 the cornerstone was laid where our farm now stands.  A son of the Milliken family had returned from working in a brickyard in Boston and is said to have returned on horseback with enough coin to have purchased this homestead and built a brickyard of his own.  The site of the former brickyard lays across Flag Pond Road next to the stream opposite our farm.

This property is now slightly less than 17 acres, but was significantly larger in its’ day. Prior to our making it into a prime horse property it was a large apple farm with hundreds of apple trees of several varieties as seen in a picture taken in 1969.  Back then it was known as the Palmer Farm.

In 2004 my wife and I purchased the farm from the Nature Conservancy placing the rear most adjoining property in a conservation easement.  The farm is bordered on all sides by some kind of conservation easement and abuts nearly six miles of conservancy property, also known as the Saco Heath.

We have spent the past fifteen years creating six triple rail fenced-in horse pastures; most of which are interconnected.  Clearing the land for the pastures and bridle paths continues to be an ongoing obligation with many benefits both in privacy and beauty.  The property also has a forty foot round pen for training purposes and the barn has been remodeled to accommodate five twelve by twelve stalls, a grooming passage way, large storage area, specialized hay rack and a ‘play pen’ with direct access to the paddock for inclement weather.

The back eight or so acres have been left as nature intended with a network of bridal paths that connect with the remainder of the property and pastures at several opportunities.

Over the years we have seen what amounts to our own ‘zoo’ of wild animals; a mountain lion, or eastern cougar, a wolf, coyotes, fox, rabbits, porcupines, skunks, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, moles, moose, deer, grouse, pheasant, beautiful wild birds and many varieties of hawks.  We have seen a Peregrine falcon at the bird feeder as well as having been visited by the now famous Black Hawk.