THE LINDSTROM COUNTRY ESTATE
HISTORICAL AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION FROM THE OWNERS

This unique property has a long history deep in the roots of central Pennsylvania. As Pennsylvania was forming and the Quakers were buying land from tribes of Native Americans, this area of Pennsylvania was purchased from the Shawnees in 1754. Originally carved out of Penn's Woods in 1790, the complete farm was over 240 acres and actually part of Huntingdon County. In the late summer of 1790, John Light, the first recorded owner of the land now containing Fox Run Farm, transferred his ownership to Christopher Harpster. The Harpster family still occupies hundreds of acres in the area surrounding the farm and spanning two counties, Centre and Huntingdon. At one point in its history, the land of Fox Run Farm was part of the holdings of James A. Beaver, Acting President of Penn State 1906 -1908. James A. Beaver served as president of the board of Penn State, governor of Pennsylvania, judge, Civil War general and leading citizen of nearby Bellefonte.

There are no accurate records of when farming began on the land now located along Tadpole Road but the building techniques used in the buildings provide some clues. It is likely that the current barn was built in the late 1800's with many additions, improvements and upgrades since then. The hand-hewn marks remain on the original barn timbers with post and dowel construction evident throughout.

In the early part of the last century, railroads ruled the life and commerce of the many parts of the United States. Andrew Carnegie needed iron ore for the developing steel industry in Pittsburgh, 134 miles to the Southwest. Built by the sweat and toil of Chinese immigrant workers and others, a railroad spur of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was built from Tyrone, PA to the Scotia iron ore mining area three miles Northeast of the farm. As early as 1882, trains loaded with Central Pennsylvania iron ore, as well as two passenger trains a day, steamed along the tracks once prominent in the front yard of what is now Fox Run Farm.

In the early 1900's, the farmhouse was built and before the end of the first decade, an accidental fire destroyed most of the home. By 1910, the family had expanded and rebuilt the farmhouse on most of the original foundation. Other buildings were built immediately behind the farmhouse to include a butcher shop, laundry building, icehouse, and chicken coop. Those outbuildings have long since vanished but slight undulations in the back yard remind the current residents about the challenges facing farmers in the early part of the last century. In the 1930's electricity came to the area and many of the farm chores became more manageable, but most of the fieldwork was still done with horses and bare hands. Horseshoes from those early draft horses are occasionally found in the fields today.

In 1899 Andrew Carnegie sold the Scotia mines and the iron ore mining operation came to a halt in the Scotia mines. The Pennsylvania Railroad continued to operate the Fairbrook Branch with a daily mixed train combining freight and passengers. Over a period of three years the annual train traffic dropped from 959 carloads in 1923 to 577 carloads in 1926. The PRR wanted to abandon the branch and the Bellefonte Central Railroad (BFC) made a bid to purchase the line for the salvage value of $52,000.1 In a hotly contested buy-out, the BFC bought the Tyrone-Scotia line (or Fairbrook Branch) at a public sale. Bellefonte Central was able to acquire the route at that sale and extended the tracks from the farm on a straight line into State College, five miles away. For a few years between October 1, 1930 and February 1, 1933, the BFC operated a passenger line connecting Southern Centre County with the rest of the railroad world.

Some say the PRR was not happy that the Bellefonte Central was able to buy the Fairbrook Branch for such an inexpensive price. After a legal battle over the PRR storage of out-of-service cars on the tracks of the Fairbrook Branch, the PRR was required to pay storage charges to the BFC that amounted to the Bellefonte Central purchase price of the Fairbrook Branch. It was like the Pennsylvania Railroad donated the branch and some say the PRR did not forget that business deal. The PRR felt outmaneuvered by the BFC and later refused to permit the interchange of BFC cars at Tyrone and caused the BFC to terminate service on the line in 1933.

When that passenger railroad ran through the farm, the family saw many members of the local community catch the train in their front yard. Just to the Northeast of the pillars now on either side of the lane, you can still see the site of the former small, unheated train station of the Fairbrook stop on the Bellefonte Central Railroad. In good weather, the travelers stood by that little building and waited for the train. On those cold and windy winter days, the family worked out an arrangement with the Railroad that enabled the waiting travelers to come into the parlor of the house and warm themselves by the coal burning stove in that front parlor. In return, the railroad provided the family with 3 or 4 tons of coal each year in exchange for the use of the farmhouse waiting room.

From the earliest days, the property was a high quality dairy farm until family illness took its toll in the early 1960's. The Parsons family purchased the farm in 1919 and after hard times fell upon the Parsons, their grandson John Donley purchased the farm in a Sheriff's Sale. The Donleys farmed the land for many years. John Donley died in 1963 and his wife Sarah continued to operate a dairy farm with the help of her son, Harold. As Sarah aged and Harold began to work in pasture research for the United States Department of Agriculture, the Donley's realized it was time to sell the dairy herd and consider other uses for the land.

From 1965 - 1988, the farm was a crop farm producing corn, soybeans, small grains and other cash crops. After the Donley family was no longer able to manage a full time job away from the farm and the duties associated with a farm operation, the entire farm was leased and farmed in support of a nearby dairy farm. The original farm was sub-divided based on a plan submitted to Ferguson Township and, as a result of that plan; a 25-acre parcel was offered for sale in the early spring of 1995. As part of the sub-division plan and also available for sale, was a 3.54 acre lot bordering the East side of the farm lane with 329.38 feet of road frontage.

The current owners learned that the property was for sale late one Monday evening and after a busy week of visits to the farm, the Lindstroms made an offer to purchase the property five days later. The Donley's accepted the offer the next day.

The Lindstroms purchased the farm and created an equestrian property with the intent of preserving as much of the historical character of the farm as possible. The barn and outbuildings had been well cared for and required little work if they were to be used in a dairy or crop farming operation. However, the prospect of boarding and training horses meant that some modifications would be needed. With their own ideas and help from Penn State architectural engineers, plans were developed to convert the Donley dairy farm to a modern country estate and equestrian facility.

Complete renovation of the house was started in the spring of 1995, followed by a yearlong renovation of the barn and other structures. The house was completely modernized with a total replacement of all roofs, walls, ceilings, windows, electrical service, house wiring, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Three and one half baths were added and architectural changes made to improve the closet space and living areas of all floors. All original pine floors were refinished, a new septic system was added, the well pump replaced, and more than 8,000 paving bricks were used to provide sidewalks, patios and steps around the property. These renovations resulted in the restoration of an historic farmhouse and created a modern residence meeting current building codes and the needs of the new owners.

The barn was prepared to serve as a horse facility in support of the preparation, training and showing of hunter/jumper show horses. The wood stave silo was removed and the original yellow pine tongue and groove boards were used as the primary construction material in the creation of a seven-stall horse barn. The stalls were added on the ground floor of what was a dairy barn. To accomplish this, the current owners had to excavate the barn floor, expand the building footer, and by doing so, increase the ceiling height by almost 3 feet.

To replace the original wood silo would not have been necessary or practical so a similar structure was created in its place with a 16' sliding door permitting the use of this building as a storage facility for sawdust bedding. The "sawdust building" provides the farm with an out-of-the-weather location for the storage of stall bedding and other items related to farm and riding ring maintenance.

The five acres immediately around the house, barn and other buildings were designed with a series of readily accessible pastures and grazing paddocks for horses. The use of traditional style white board fencing was made an easier maintenance chore through the use of virgin vinyl post and board fencing. In the side and back pasture fence lines, pony rail vinyl coated wire fence material was used and attached to recycled plastic posts that also require little or no maintenance. The current owners wanted to retain the look of a traditional farm but knew that modern material would better meet the safety needs of the horses while reducing the maintenance needs of the owners.

In 2001, additional land became available on the Southwest side of the farm lane and, in an effort to preserve the pastoral setting of the property; the Lindstroms purchased an additional 1.13 acres. That land was added to the original 25-acre property as a lot addition. The purchase of that additional acreage was to assure that the land on both sides of the lane and between the house and Tadpole Road would be part of Fox Run Farm and not used for any other purpose.

The location of Fox Run Farm, the serenity of the area, the renovation of all buildings and other improvements make this a unique property in the Centre Region. This property has been featured on the cover of the "Official Guide to Centre County" in 1997 - 1998 and the text describing the cover photo reads, "A picturesque farm illustrates the beauty of Centre County that residents and visitors find so appealing."2

References

1 Michael Bezilla, "The PRR's Lewisburg & Tyrone Railroad: When Two Halves Didn't Make a Whole," Milepost, Vol. 22 (April 2004): 10-19.

2 Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, Pennsylvania, "Official Guide to Centre County 1997 - 1998", Page 3, State College, PA.