Return to Whitehall Farm

One of my favorite things to do when I was in my 20s and a young, poor married person was to go to country auctions. It was a great place to learn about antiques and history, get some fresh air and do some serious people watching. The auction would be held at the house. You would bring your lawn chair and prepare to jockey for position as the auctioneer moved around the property. There really is an art to “calling” an auction. A good auctioneer has to have a good strong voice and sing-song cadence to keep the audience engaged and buying.

I was living in Dayton, Ohio, and my first husband was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB. I was just starting my first office job and money was tight, so I loved to go to the auctions and thrift stores. It often was hard to decide which sale to attend when there were multiple sales on any given Saturday. To get the good deals in my price range, you had to stand in the wind, rain or snow and stay to the bitter end.

Such was the case one day in Yellow Springs, Ohio, when I arrived late to an auction at a beautiful huge white farmhouse in the country. I bought an old player piano, which I was hoping to restore, and a velvet covered Victorian walnut chair. I was so excited because I usually could not afford such things.

Fast forward 30 years and here I am in Perry. I have carried this Victorian chair around to all the places the military took me, and now I am trying to downsize my collection somewhat. When I was visiting my family in Ohio a couple years ago, I heard that an organization has banded together and saved that old farm and the land around it from being developed. The farm was known as Whitehall Farm and had a rich history since its birth in 1842. With nearly a thousand acres of woods, creeks and fertile farm land still with the farm, the last owners put it on the auction block broken up into several pieces.

The townspeople banded together, and through fund raisers and donations the citizens came together and raised over a million dollars to try and save the farm. Signs, newspaper stories and bumper stickers got the word out. The Tecumseh Land Trust was formed to prepare to save the farm. The owners of the mansion, Dave and Sharen Neuhardt, were able to purchase all the land around the home with the help of the Trust to keep the farm intact and preserve it for future generations.

The Tecumseh Land Trust helps landowners and farmers navigate local, state and federal laws for land preservation and conservation. I am a real estate agent, and I appreciate this cause for I do not think every farm field and pecan grove needs to be a subdivision. Growth should be conservative and not sprawling and unplanned.

I contacted the farm and asked them if they would like to have one of the original furnishings and they said yes, they would love to have it! So the chair and I got in the big red Dodge and drove 11 hours to Whitehall farm. We were met by fields of beautiful sunflowers and many of the townspeople were on the edges of the field taking pictures. I met executive director Krista Magaw, whose love and appreciation of the farm is evident in her warm smile and personality. I told her that the chair could go to the mansion owners or be auctioned to raise funds for the Trust.

This column is too small to do justice to the story of the Tecumseh Land Trust, so I hope you will Google it and read the whole fascinating story. The trip was a fun journey and I’m not sure, but I think the chair was smiling. Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com.

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