Bundoran Farm Field Notes

Little Tractor vs. Big Field: Hay Cut at Bundoran Farm

David Hamilton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:31:20 +0000

We often extol the serenity and slow pace of Bundoran Farm’s landscape. Having lived here, and worked here for nearly four years, I appreciate the many quiet joys of the farm. But every once in a while, you get an honest-to-goodness drama. Such was the heroic effort exerted over the past week of hay-cutting at Bundoran Farm.

A Landscape Transformed: Finished Bales on Plank Road

The cut had been repeatedly delayed by personnel and equipment breakdowns, but when it got underway last week, folks who live here got quite a show. Adventure Farm Manager Carl Tinder and his son baled, Harmon and Wayne cut, and in a period of about five days, hundreds of acres of pasture were transformed, and winter feed was captured to sustain Bundoran Farm’s bovine residents through the winter.

Finished Bales and Foreboding Weather

The process was complicated by weather, as periodic thunderstorms swept the farm, and the entire cut was tense, as more storms narrowly missed to the north and south.

Harmon kicked things off, laying down hay on the contour fields, then over on Carpenter. Here, his tractor’s looking pretty small down by Carpenter Springs.

The Hay is Run Into Windrows for Baling

Tinder and Sons Loads the Baler

Baling continued through yesterday, racing against weather.

Finished Bales, and Bundoran Farm's First Occupied Home in the Distance

The Finish Line: Finished Bales Lined Up for Storage

So now you know what you missed this week, if you don’t happen to live on Bundoran Farm. Since baling is now complete, the less urgent business of putting the hay up for storage will procede at a more leisurely pace. While the bales are out, a walk, bike ride or drive through the farm is particularly beautiful. If you’re in the area, I invite you to come down to Plank Road over the holiday weekend and take a look at Bundoran Farm.
-dh

Bundoran Farm Gets its Summer Haircut

Joe Barnes — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:52:59 +0000

After several weeks of great rains which made everything green and lush around the farm, it was finally time to cut hay. To my, the first cut of hay is like getting your summer hair cut. Everything is crisp and clean and you feel already to jump into the fun of the season.

Last evening, I spent sometime down at the farm with my 2 sons and one of their friends. After playing around Shepherd Cottage for a bit, we went on a slow drive in and around Bundoran Farm. No matter how much time I spend at Bundoran Farm, I am always amazed by its beauty and how much it relaxes me. This time, I was really taken back by the reaction of my 13 year old son Harry, who is typically focused on reading a Marvel comic or Star Wars book instead of noticing the world around him. During the middle of our tour around the farm, he picked up his head, turned to his friend and said, “Do mind if we stop talking about Star Wars, I would rather just look at Bundoran Farm” . Sorry George Lucas, but I think Bundoran Farm might be moving up my son’s list of his favorite things.

With picturesque views like this all around. Who can blame him.

The Great Shiitake Mushroom Flush!

Leif Riddervold — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:21:59 +0000

The warm and wet weather we have been experiencing triggered our largest flush of Shiitake Mushrooms yet. They were well enjoyed by the Bundoran Farm community. I am told that some ended up in a creamy soup, some were sautéed, and others ended up on burgers!. Yum.

Moving Forward with Confidence

Joe Barnes — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:04:51 +0000

Transforming Bundoran Farm’s vision into reality requires a talented, experienced and dedicated team. Through the underlying tenants of Preservation Development, it is possible to preserve the character and use of this 2,300 acre heritage landscape while providing an opportunity for a limited number of families to live in a beautiful and authentic agrarian environment. An undertaking of this scale and significance requires substantial expertise and resources.

People looking at purchasing real estate, especially today, should be well informed about a developer’s strength and stability. The development team assembled for Bundoran Farm has a long track record of successfully completing a wide array of community development efforts along the eastern seaboard. “Each time, we and our partners try to push the envelope just a bit further and set the bar high a bit higher. Having been actively engaged in all aspects of real estate development for decades, this team has learned its lessons well and has stayed both competitive and stable through numerous economic cycles” explains Charles Adams, Bundoran Farm’s Co-General Manger and Celebration Associates’ Managing Partner.

Qroe Farm Preservation Development and Celebration Associates are the most visible members of the Bundoran Farm development team. This collaborative relationship began many years ago. Qroe’s track record of multiple successful projects based on the principles “Preservation Development” pioneered over 25 years ago by Qroe’s founder, Bob Baldwin, Sr. attracted the interest Celebration Associates’ founders Charles Adams and Don Killoren. In their exploration to find a way to successfully blend the preservation of rural landscapes, residential development and environmental stewardship, they met and got to know Bob Baldwin, Sr.

Almost instantly, Adams and Killoren knew they had found true kindred spirits in Bob Baldwin and the Qroe team, now run by Bob Baldwin, Jr, Bundoran Farm’s Co-General Manager. After hearing about the visionary work done by the members of the Celebration Associates team at Celebration Florida and Homestead Preserve in Hot Springs, VA, “my father knew he had found people who shared his views and visions regarding the preservation of our rural landscapes”, describes Bob Baldwin, Jr. In addition to being intrigued with Celebration Associates use of Patterns Books as a design tool and how they set up non-profit foundations in their communities, “we were especially impressed with their involvement in the establishment of the Disney Wilderness Preserve and the Warm Springs Mountain Preserve.” Now, Qroe and Celebration Associates are excited about opportunity to work together on the creation of Bundoran Farm, a community that is both naturally distinctive and profoundly significant to the heritage and character of Virginia’s pastoral countryside.

In addition to the managing partners, Bundoran Farm benefits from the financial strength and development experiences of two of its longtime close alliances, Crosland and The Springs Company. Crosland, LLC, based in Charlotte, NC, is one of the Southeast’s leading and most diversified real estate companies, known for developing and managing properties with an underlying focus on creating communities that are better places to live. “For us at Crosland, Bundoran Farm represents a new standard for preserving pastoral farmland and creating exceptional places for families to live”, describes Todd Mansfield, Crosland’s Chairman and CEO. Because of their financial strength and ability to see projects through to the end, Crosland was recently selected as the lead developer working along side Celebration Associates on the redevelopment of the Martha Jefferson Hospital site in Downtown Charlottesville. This opportunity further solidifies Crosland’s commitment and business interests in the Charlottesville area.

The Springs Company, founded by the Close Family, is based in Fort Mill, SC. They have established a reputation as a good corporate citizen that thinks long-term, as evidenced by the establishment of the 2,300 acre Springs-Close Greenway created from their 7,000 acre landholding in and around Fort Mill, SC. Their patient and privately held capital allows them to invest wisely in the community developments created and managed by Celebration Associates.

“It is the strength of these family partnerships that quite frankly allows our company the confidence and patience to move forward intelligently in this current world economy. We are blessed with not having the need to rush projects or cut corners in order to deliver on the realistic visions we project to our owners and neighbors”, explains Charles Adams.

Biltmore Estate – A Legacy of Preservation

Leif Riddervold — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:18:19 +0000

Last week I had the honor of visiting the Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina. The Biltmore Estate was built in the late 1800’s by George Washington Vanderbilt, grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. Joining me on this trip was our Forester Ches Goodall, and our Development Director Joe Barnes. The folks at the Biltmore had invited us to tour their property and learn about the great work they are practicing in the field of sustainable forestry and agriculture. The tours that were offered us were led by none other than three of the most talented and gracious people the Estate had to offer. Bill Alexander, the Landscape and Forest Historian for the Biltmore briefed us extensively on the history of the property, and the steps that led to the eventual acquisition of some 120,000 acres of land that would provide the canvas on which America’s first professional forester, Gifford Pinchot could practice his art. The Director of Horticulture, Parker Andes, and their Vice President for Agricultural Sciences, Ted Katsigianis led us in the field, allowing us to see first hand the practices that they are implementing in the forests and on their farm. These three, as well as several others who joined us for lunch and dinner, could not have been more gracious, and their enthusiasm for the land, its past, present and future was simply infectious. We only hope that when they come to visit us here at Bundoran Farm that we can come close to returning their hospitality.

There are many similarities between Bundoran Farm and the Biltmore Estate. We both pride ourselves in maintaining a productive and healthy working landscape, and also strive to perfect sustainable practices in the fields and the forest. While the Biltmore has more land to work with than our 2,300 acres, the approaches are similar. They raise beef cattle and sheep; tend extensive gardens and almost 100 acres of grapes for their award winning wines. Here at Bundoran Farm, we also raise beef cattle, but instead of grapes we have apples. Our newest venture has been to experiment with Shitake Mushrooms, and we are studying other possibilities so that our agricultural base will be more diverse. Both properties have set aside forest preserves, while also managing most of the stands for multiple objectives, including careful resource extraction. This is why visits to properties like the Biltmore are important. The sharing of knowledge will help both of us to continue the fine art of sustainably managing our most precious resource, the land.

DAY 30 revisited: reflections on a wonderful journey

Joe Barnes — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:54:36 +0000

It is hard to put into words what can only be described as an intense marathon–which is always fraught with the joy of the journey, the inevitable palpable pain of the process, and the deeply sweet yet sorrowful satisfaction of finishing this phase. Part of the struggle is not knowing how to slow down gracefully after running hard for the last 6-7 weeks….where four men–Matthew Crane, Jon Molyneux, Lucas Robertson and myself worked and bonded and passionately created a building where the whole far exceeds the sum of our individual capacities.

This is as much a reflection of the wonderful support we received day in and day out from the staff and landowners at Bundoran Farm, Celebration Associates, Qroe Farm Preservation and the interlocking myriad of relationships without which and whom this would be little more than an empty exercise. My heart is too full and chaotic to enumerate all the credits….you will have to read beyond the words and you know who you are anyway.

We had some half days within this aggregate total–two of us working a full day or all of us a half day–of 120 man days for the project. We were rained out once or twice and some days were twice as or half as productive as others….but the blessing is in the whole journey and in persevering in our commitment to our clients and to one another.

The context of Bundoran Farm with its views, people and pastoral ambiance was as much a critical path and blessing as our paychecks and material deliveries to keep us keeping on…as well as our sense of fulfilling a great dream in the heart of Bob Baldwin, Sr. that lives no less passionately than when he was alive. I cannot write this without tears–but there is no regret–only gratitude.

In Psalm 127 we are enjoined to recognize that “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it….” Bundoran Farm–from its inception–has always struck me as an act of faith on the part of all its participants…from the Scott family to the current landowners and future generations of schoolchildren who will visit and learn–just as we all have–what it is to explore the wonder of a ” A Way of Life on a Land that Works….”

George Abetti – Geobarns

Materials Arriving

Framing and Exterior Shell Complete

Day 30 – Job Done!

Joe Barnes — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:09:21 +0000

It feels wonderful to get the upper framing done and adjust the French doors–but I miss Matt, Lucas and Jon on this last day of finishing (at least what we can) our contract on the shell. After speaking with David Hamilton–I designed a micro Geobarn for the upper bathrooms–complete with (less than massive) upper beam and gabled roof–knowing the approach up the stairs would be massive and intimidating running into a twelve foot wall at the top of the stairs….

I will send another more reflective email this weekend–what better way to celebrate than go to the open house at the Homestead Preserve and to Casey Williams’s wedding tomorrow?

My heart is full of gratitude–to my wife, my family, the crew and our clients….what a blessing this has been.

George Abetti – Geobarns

DAY 29-1/2: lower framing complete

Joe Barnes — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:00:22 +0000

With only the upper bathroom left to be frame–Matt and I really hit our stride today and were able to have the dream day we had hoped for a couple of days ago….with him nailing the partitions together while I cut we were a well oiled machine….and we got done what we had to get done. He will be back to do most of the interior work and I will be around a few more days finishing up the upper level interior on another project…before returning north at the end of next week.

We really enjoyed ourselves today…a good last push.

George Abetti – Geobarns

DAY 28: another long and frustrating day

Joe Barnes — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:57:15 +0000

Today was another hard and at times frustrating day-with me making a lot of mistakes and not being very focused….

Toward the late afternoon we hit our stride a little better and hopefully will get close to completing the internal framing tomorrow.

It is good to see it taking shape-we are grateful for that and that it is going in well.

George Abetti – Geobarns

Day 27.5 – Just Half a Day

Joe Barnes — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:50:22 +0000

We did not make a whole lot of progress today–dealing with visiting guests, lost of consultations with David Hamilton on refining the plans, and a late start after cleaning up and Matt having to pick up the Envirosafe treated lumber for the sill plates this morning….but the bottom is all laid out and we are ready to frame tomorrow and hopefully finish Thursday.

The building looks so good now–and we have lots of people stopping in to look at it…..

George Abetti – Geobarns