Philbrook Farm Inn: Saving a New Hampshire Landmark

Shelburne, New Hampshire is home to a number of historic homesteads, farms and cemetaries that are eligible for listing on the National Historic Register. But none is as special as the Philbrook Farm Inn and adjacent Croftie Farm, selected as one of New Hampshire's "Seven to Save" most important historic properties in 2006.

As the older generations pass on, the town is acting to save the Philbrook Farm Inn, which since its establishment in 1861, has become the longest operated, continuously owned family inn in the nation. In 2005 Shelburne residents contacted The Conservation Fund to help develop a plan that would allow the historic Inn to be protected. At the same time, the town wanted to ensure that its rich natural, cultural and recreational resources would be safeguarded for the long term.

The Fund continues to work with a number of partners to complete these efforts. Among them are the Shelburne Historical Commission, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, state Fish and Game Department, state Department of Agriculture, the Mahoosucs Initiative, the Mahoosuc Land Trust, Androscoggin Watershed Council and the Northern Forest Center. In late 2007, the initiative was awarded a grant of $300,000 from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program to leverage additional public and private contributions needed to conserve the property. Fundraising efforts will continue until the acquisition is completed. In addition, three landowners are donating conservation easements on their properties to leverage funding for the Philbrook Farm.

Protecting the Philbrook Farm Inn is part of The Conservation Fund's larger Androscoggin Valley Conservation Initiative, which seeks to protect the important natural and cultural resources of the region. For more information, contact Nancy Bell.