Atwood Farm
Mansfield Center, Connecticut
Preserved in 2012
Acreage: 68
Donor: Isabelle Atwood
"Thanks to the generosity of Isabelle Atwood, we now have a historic and comfortable space where volunteers can work together, where we can host public events, and where people can learn what conservation meant a hundred years ago and what it means today."
The 68-acre Atwood Farm was bequeathed to Joshua’s Trust in 2012 by Isabelle Atwood, a life-long Mansfield resident and a founding member of Joshua’s Trust. Isabelle and her twin sister Harriet were born in 1918 and lived on the farm their entire lives.
The farm includes the rambling nineteenth century home the Trust now uses for its headquarters, as well as a large bank barn, blacksmith’s shop, weaver’s cottage and other farm outbuildings. The grounds include an extensive heirloom fruit orchard, woodlot, pastures, and hay fields which are currently managed by a local farmer.
The historical significance of the farm includes a link to Connecticut politics: Isabelle Atwood’s grandfather purchased the property that is now the Farm in 1886. In that same year he married Harriet Cross – first cousin to Wilbur Cross, who served as Connecticut’s governor from 1931 to 1939.
Tours: You can take a self-guided tour by downloading the map of the buildings and their descriptions. This tour takes you through the history of the various buildings on the property.
