Lost Mile Homestead
We have lived here on this little hill above Brattleboro Vermont since 1985 on the ancestral lands of the Abenaki people. This particular piece of upland paradise was originally “settled” by Revolutionary War soldier, Thomas Betterly. Thomas built a cabin in 1780, completing his permanent home by 1785. The Betterly family lived, worked and expanded this 1000+ acre hill farm for 5 generations. Among the many buildings, there was a creamery, a summer kitchen, a slaughter house, a sugar house, a saw mill, and 40x70 dairy barn, and one of the rooms in the home served for a time as a schoolhouse.
The “property”, known as the Betterly Homestead, was eventually parceled and sold out of the family in the 60s by a 6th generation family member no longer interested in farming. The land became a commune. A baby was born in a tipi in the lower field, another in the front room of the old farmhouse, the old schoolroom. All of the outbuildings succumbed to neglect and gravity. The farmhouse was eventually abandoned. In 1985, two-hundred years after Thomas Betterly cut the first tree for his cabin, Tim’s parents bought the house and remaining 75 acres, eventually annexing back an additional 50 acres. But by 1985, not only had the outbuildings fallen, but the farmhouse was in a state of disrepair, and the field that many generations of hardworking hands had opened up were growing in.
Tim’s parents, with newly-found retirement energy and an enthusiastic flock of Tim and Pam’s eager 20-something friends, went to work clearing, building barns and sheds, setting fences, renovating the main house and planting asparagus, raspberries and highbush blueberries. Two years later, Tim and Pam bought a cottage on adjoining land, expanding the gardens and blueberries and raspberries, and a small orchard was planted. Pigs, turkeys, meat chickens, laying hens, and Angora goats were raised. Balancing our work as public school and college educators, the scale and scope of homestead activities has ebbed and flowed dramatically over the years, but U-Pick organic blueberries and sweet Angora goats - sometimes 4, sometimes over 20 -- have remained a constant.
Though Tim’s parents no longer own the old Betterly Homestead, 37 years later, we still live on the adjoining land and through the generosity of our new neighbors, we still graze our herd of goats on the beautiful pastures, and house them in the barn that Tim built over 30 years ago. We call our home and land Lost Mile Homestead.
Our daughter, now a senior in college, was born and raised here. She is a maker in her own right as a weaver, spinner, and carpenter.
Two years ago, a fire that spared our house but destroyed our pole barn and garage, opened up an unexpected opportunity. We rebuilt on that spot, not a building for vehicles and stuff, but a beautiful shop and studio. As recent retirees ourselves, we are re-embarking on an adventure we started together over 30 years ago. We call ourselves Lost Mile Designs.
