Great Pine Farm family gives again

The family that gave the land for Simon's Rock College has made a second momentous gift, placing the 250-acre Great Pine Farm under a conservation restriction last December.

The farm lies in the part of Great Barrington known historically as Seekonk, spanning the Alford Brook valley from Round Hill Road to Alford Road. The pasture on Alford Road across from the Simon's Rock campus is the centerpiece of a superb tableau of field, forest and distant hills, a definitive entry under Berkshire landscapes.

Abigail Reeves and Peggy Whitfield by frozen Alford Brook

Great Pine Farm has been in the Blodgett family since 1922, when it was purchased by Thomas H. Blodgett. Blodgett's wife, Margaret K. Blodgett, donated half the farm, along with half a dozen houses, to Simon's Rock in 1964.

The farm is now owned by four Blodgett grandchildren, including Peggy Whitfield of Great Barrington, who made the collective decision to see the farm protected.

Together with her daughter, Abigail Reeves, Whitfield manages the farm on behalf of her co-owners, sister Elizabeth Richardson, and brothers Thomas Hall and John Hall.

Portions of the farm are currently leased to Alford farmer Ray Wilcox, who pastures animals and grows hay and corn on the field. Whitfield and Reeves maintain other fields, hedgerows and bridle paths on the property.

Map by Alison Kolesar

The conservation restriction will prohibit further development on the donated acres, with the exception of one additional residence and agricultural buildings. The restriction does not grant any public right of access.

"It's a wonderful property," said Tad Ames, Council director. "With her siblings scattered from California to Colorado to Israel, I don't know how Peggy pulled this together, but we're greatly pleased she did."