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In 2003, when we purchased the farm after the death of my grandfather and grandmother, it was difficult to see the extraordinary potential of the property that had fallen into disarray; most people could only see deterioration. We had planned to simply buy the land to keep developers from getting their hands on it, but little did any of us realize what an important part of our lives and our family it was to become.
Kerguelen Farm is 110 acres of land in northeastern Ohio that overlooks the Tuscarawas River and is bordered by Camp Tuscazoar, the local Boy Scout camp. Our land also connects to the Zoar Valley Trail, a scenic 20-mile trail that is anchored by Schoenbrunn Village in the south and Fort Laurens in Boliver to the north.
The farm has been in our family for four generations, but over the past 20 years, due to my grandparent's, Rolan and Dorothy Feller, declining health, the farm had slowly deteriorated. After their death, we found everything was in disrepair: their house, the barn, the infrastructure. No fences remained and all the fields were completely overgrown with grapevines, poison ivy and multiflora rose. The first six months were spent in clean up alone: a project to be sure.
Despite the blood, sweat, tears and money that has gone into the farm, the result has been an idyllic family gathering place to celebrate and bring together each new generation of the family. Complete with haylofts to be explored, flowers to be picked, kittens to be chased, a grumpy grandfather and a grandmother in a straw hat, it’s the perfect way for the next generation to grow up and for me to relive a childhood dream.
Deanna Vickery
Kerguelen Farm |
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