Featured Artwork: Town Farm in May

An old photograph of the Town Farm of Buckland
found in the files of the Buckland Historical Society.
It was probably taken during the late 19th century.

"Painted prior to 1930. A painting of the rare old N. E. House, once the Town Farm on Buckland Town Farm Hill. Large spring maple tree and blossoming apple tree near it. After a year of haggling, finally bought by Mr. Frank E. Carpenter in Heath (now deceased) and now owned by his wife of Heath (summers) and 'Kakumwood' Greenwich, Ct. Mr. Carpenter claimed his forebears used to live in the house."

"Originally titled New England Memories but changed to the above name."

Additional diary comments:

"Painted prior to 1930. A painting of the old town farm building (now razed) on the 'Town Farm Hill' running out of Buckland. Spring maple and blossoming apple tree in front of house. My grandmother and... July 6, 1932: Stopped at Mr. Carpenters in Heath and sold him a canvas New England Memories for $350"

This painting was sold at auction by Douglas Galleries on Nov. 18, 1994, for $600.

There is a chalk drawing with the same name and the same title.

The Buckland Town Farm existed for a great many years as a place for the care of the elderly residents or a place to live for the younger people who had fallen on hard times and lost their homes or jobs. It was located about a half mile up Charlemont Road out of the Buckland center from the Mary Lyon Church. It's story has been lost to history. Whether it was demolished or burned down is not known. It was not there during the early 1930's. RSW made a single painting of the structure, shown above, titled The Town Farm in May. And it is shown in the distance in two other paintings: A Winter Day and Winter Farms A cropped out image of the building in the former two paintings is shown below.

A cropped section of A Winter Day. Click the link to view the hi-res image