Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A 116-acre farm on Hopewell Amwell Road on the Sourland Mountain in Hopewell Township – of which 20 acres will be accessible to the public – has been preserved by the D&R Greenway Land Trust.
Preservation of the farm brings the number of acres preserved by the D&R Greenway Land Trust to 20,000 acres since 1989, said Linda Mead, who is the president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit group.
The property contains the headwaters of the Bedens Brook, and the hedgerows provide habitat for roosting owls. The 20 acres of land that will be accessible to the public will feature trails that connect to a large network of preserved land.
The newly preserved farm is near “Highfields,” the estate that belonged to aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It is also near the Joseph Stout House on Province Line Road – also known as the Hunt House, and which was Gen. George Washington’s headquarters when he was planning the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.
The first family to farm the land was the Stout family, according to the D&R Greenway Land Trust. The earliest deeds to the property were filed prior to 1789. Since then, the farm has changed hands several times. It has been owned by the Voorhees family, the Wyckoff family, the Wert family and the Conover family – all familiar names in the region.
Sandy and Gregg Schwinn, who co-own the farm with their wives, said their father bought it in 1956. Their father introduced the first pheasant hatchery on the property, which became known as Pheasant Run Farm.
The Schwinns wanted to preserve the farm, but when none of the other family members wanted to continue to operate it, the brothers and their wives decided to sell it. They wanted to sell the land and move out of state – quickly.
And that’s when the D&R Greenway Land Trust stepped in.
The Schwinns were prepared to sell the farm to a development-oriented buyer, but the D&R Greenway Land Trust worked to find another buyer who agreed to place a conservation easement on the property – thus preserving the farm.
The Schwinn brothers and their wives are please that a deal was struck between the D&R Greenway Land Trust and a new owner to preserve the farm.
“When you think about the people who came before us – their blood, sweat and tears shed to preserve themselves, their families and their strongly held beliefs – then you cannot help but believe preserving the property was the right thing to do,” said Ruth Schwinn, who is married to Sandy Schwinn.
