Thirty-eight acres of historic farmland in the
heart of Bedford's
Guard Hill area have been preserved forever, thanks to a generous donation
to Westchester Land Trust by the late Dr. Edward A. Raymond and his family,
whose ancestors were among Bedford's early settlers. WLT completed
this project with the Raymonds in the summer of 2003, prior to Dr. Raymond's
death in August 2003 at the age of 88.
Dr. Raymond leaves a singular legacy to the Land Trust and the entire Town of Bedford. The property is on Guard Hill Road, at the intersection of Narrows Road, and contains a farmhouse from 1860 and a cottage originally dating from 18th century. Over 30 acres of adjoining fields and woods will now be preserved, through the conservation easement that the Raymonds gave the Land Trust.
Dr. Raymond leaves a singular legacy to the Land Trust and the entire Town of Bedford. The property is on Guard Hill Road, at the intersection of Narrows Road, and contains a farmhouse from 1860 and a cottage originally dating from 18th century. Over 30 acres of adjoining fields and woods will now be preserved, through the conservation easement that the Raymonds gave the Land Trust.
The land has been a farm since the Raymond family acquired it in the
early 1700s - Dr. Raymond's grandfather ran a dairy operation
there until 1925 and family friends now use the part of the land for
what might be the last vegetable and flower farm in Bedford - and
the donation preserves one of a dwindling number of old farmsteads
in the county.
The conservation easement also protects land that lies within the
watershed of New York City's Croton Reservoir.
Although the Raymond family has not lived on the property since
the dairy farm shut down in 1925, Dr. Raymond's son, Douglas,
said the decision to preserve it was an easy one for his father
and the others in his family.
"We love the open property," he said. "We all unanimously
dislike over-development. We think that particular property has one of
the nicest views in Bedford - in all directions you can
see what you would have seen 200 years ago. We just thought it
would have been
a crime to destroy that in any way."
The Raymonds' donation brings the number of acres Westchester Land
Trust has preserved in the Guard Hill area to 227.
"Preserving the wonderful farms and other properties in the Guard Hill
area is essential if we want to preserve the character of
Bedford," said
Land Trust Chairman Sam Pryor. "This particular property
that the Raymond family owns helps us retain the historic
feel of the area. We
thank them for their generosity and commend them for their
public-spiritedness."