History of Valley Falls Farm
Jon Roe

Early History 

● Native Americans hunted and fished the area from early times and sold or gave these lands to Colonial Settlers.
● The first settler at Valley Falls was Stephen Johns who came here in the early 1700’s.
● The John’s family was followed by a number of interesting owners and an oil mill.

History of Valley Falls Farm 

Lyman
● Valley Falls Farm began with Anton Lyman’s purchase of about 1?? acres in the 1830’s & 1840’s. Until this time there is no record of a farm on Valley Falls Road, although some of it may have been farmed by the Lathrop family next door on Bolton Road.
● Lyman was a typical New England farmer and built typical New England structures. He built the farmhouse around 1840 followed by the tenant house for hired hands at the top of the hill. He also built a barn across the road and likely had several other out buildings, perhaps including the still existing woodshed. 
● Lyman sold land for the railroad and for the Valley Falls Cotton Mill about 1849. Neither sale involved farmable land. 
● He continued to operate the farm until 1865. At the time of his death, he held about 150 acres and the property would stay more or less intact until the 1960’s.

● The farm today focuses on its use as a gentleman’s farm as it would be used from this point forward. The owners were not farmers, although the land would continue to be farmed.

Sharps
● In 1870 the property was purchased by gun maker Christian Sharps who chose the valley as the location for his trout farm, thought to be the next big money maker after the Civil War. His farm was upstream a bit and due to his early death in 1874 never was a financial success. The site is now a National Historic Site as is the Cotton Mill site. Sharps never lived in the farmhouse probably leasing it to a farmer.

Gwynne & Hardy
● After Sharps the property was purchased in 1875 by Dr. Stuart & Amelia Gwynn from New York City. He was in and out of trouble and he and his wife settled here around 1880. However, soon after he was committed to the Middletown Insane Asylum for, among other things, forging a deed of purchase for the Cotton Mill property. The mill had burned in 1877.
● After Gwynn the property was owned for a few years by Alfred Hardy. He and his wife were active in protecting Native Americans. He left in 1907 after being appointed by the Indian Office to look after the interests of the Navaho Indians in New Mexico.

Munchow
● The property was owned by a series of interesting characters, but in 1910 it was purchased by “Count” Hans Munchow, the biggest character and the most influential on the farm. Munchow lived here for only three years but in that short time transformed the farm from a traditional New England farm to the German-Austrian stable design you see today. 
● He built the stables and most of the outbuildings, modernized the farm house and totally rebuilt and modernized the barn across the street. The buildings you see today are a mix of 1840’s and 1912 buildings. 
● Hans Munchow was a German con man who represented a German auto parts manufacturer at a time when Hartford was the auto capital of America. He married Southern Belle, Henrietta Cassin, 25 years older than he and used her money to finance the rebuilding at the farm. 
● For Henrietta he updated the Tenant House on the corner which he named the Alabama in honor of the state where she grew up.
● In 1913, he vanished in the middle of the night with his secretary leaving his wife to sell the farm and pay off his debts.  

Beach  
● In 1915, the farm was purchased by Mary Batterson Beach as a summer home for her husband Dr. Charles Beach and their family. She was the daughter of the founder of Travelers Insurance Co. They had their main home in West Hartford and Mary was part of Hartford Society. They added to the property, buying land on the east side of Bolton Road. They built the large yellow house on Bolton Road and others along the road, “Windy Hill” and “Windy Hollow”, for visiting family and staff.
● They made no major changes to the farm buildings, but did modernize the water system and maintained the gardens, buildings, and orchards in prime condition. In 1925 they added a swimming pool below the falls for their grandchildren, the three charcoal water filter and patio foundations are partly visible today.
● In 2015 two Beach granddaughters visited the farm and reminisced about their summers. 
● The properties remained in the Beach family until about 1960 when it was sold. The Daricos bought the 7 acre farm, and developers from Essex bought the rest of the land.

Darico
● The Darico’s were Italian farmers who began working for the Beaches -  maintaining their land and other tasks. They were a fairly large family and would own a number of homes along Bolton Road, as well as living in the farmhouse. They remained owners of the farm until about 2000. 
● During their ownership they were very active in town including establishing a school bus route. Their friends included town politicians, fire and police. The upstairs of the stable was converted to a clubhouse and Sunday mornings saw them having many parties.

Preservation

● Meanwhile in 1962, with support from the rural fire department, what would become Valley Falls Park was purchased from the developers.
● In 2000, when the Darico’s decided to sell the farm, the Friends of Valley Falls raised money and bought the Valley Falls Farm to save it from possible development.
● The FOVF updated the farmhouse and made improvements to the barn, which is now owned by the Town of Vernon. The farmhouse contains two apartments that are rented.
● The next step is the Heritage Center which should open in 2022.

Tour of the Buildings 

Farmhouse - Greek Revival built by Lyman in 1840’s and remodeled and updated by Munchow and others. Two apartments provide income for farm. The Friends have restored doors and windows.

Stable/Carriage Barn - Built by Munchow. Cupola is unusual. Matchstick board with custom wrought iron hay feeders. Housed carriage and probably an automobile.

Icehouse - Built into the hill. Overhead door. Ice cut from Valley Falls Pond. Saw in Piggery. Norway Spruce trees planted for shade. One hit by lightening.

Piggery - Bead board siding matches the stable. Three small doorway opening allowed pigs and piglets to enter and exit. 

Manure Shed -  road for easy loading to fertilize fields. A 6 inch conduit leads from piggery to simplify flow of manure.

Woodshed - Oldest outbuilding probably built by Lyman in 1840’s.

Cold Cellar - Built into the hill with single door facing south. Has 3 small rooms and concrete floors. Pipes protrude for ventilation. Stored apples and root vegetables for winter. 

Cold Frames - Face south. For starting vegetabel and herb plantings in spring. Vernon Garden Club planted and maintain upper herb garden; the middle garden is perennials and the lower frame is a vegetable garden for tenants.

Red Barn - Built or rebuilt in 1911 by Munchow. Gambrel style roof allowed for a lot of hay storage in its upper levels. Hay fork lifted hay to upper levels. Grain room, harness room. Downstairs is milking room for cows and dairy production rooms. Downstairs has been converted to a program room.

Tenant House - Built on Bolton Road shortly after Farmhouse in the 1840’s. Used by families supporting the farm until 1912 when Count Munchow remodeled it as a bungalow for his Southern wife. The Beaches who bought the property in 1915 used it while their Big House was being built. Then they used it for staff members, lastly their chauffeur. Later it became a private home.

Bell - The bell is from the Springville Mill in Rockville brought to the farm in ??? by the Darico family. Made by Clinton Meneely Bell Company of Troy NY in 1887.