“We would be saddling [the family’s next generation] with a considerable amount of debt.”
~11th Generation NH farmer, Lucy Tuttle
Kyle Stucker
Foster’s Daily Democrat
7/25/2010
An aerial view of the Tuttle farm on Dover Point Road. Courtesy photo
DOVER — The nation’s oldest family-run farm is officially on the market.
The owners of Tuttle’s Red Barn have listed their entire property, which has been a Garrison City fixture since John Tuttle first cultivated the land in the 1630s, through a realtor with LandVest Luxury Real Estate online for $3.35 million.
Lucy Tuttle, who owns the business with her younger brother William, said they have been talking about selling the landmark market, farmhouse and its 134 acres of land for “a matter of years,” although the plan has now come to fruition because both are in their 60s and face chronic pain and arthritis each day from years of working on the farm…
…”It’s given me a lot of satisfaction in my life,” said Tuttle, 65, who said her family is “more grateful than (they) can say” for the years of support. “My brother and I aren’t gaining anything from it but our satisfaction. It’s what we see as being our last best option. The economy as it is now has made us sure that it is the right decision for us.”
Over the years, several other generations have considered selling the family business because it has almost always operated “in the red” like most small farms, said Tuttle.
Tuttle and her brother, who owns the farm and lives in the farmhouse with his wife and two children, took ownership in 1970. She said they almost put the farm up for sale last year as well after a cold, rainy spring ruined most of their crops.
She said the sale isn’t a way for the family “to get wealthy,” but rather a way to “settle our debt” and give way to younger people with fresh ideas and capital to make it “a successful farm.” …
The complete article is at Fosters.com
Update from theblogprof: Family farm founded in 1632 forced to sell after 378 years on account of bad case of Obamanomics
