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About the Member
Drawing its name from a geographical ‘moraine’ created by moving glaciers forming swells and valleys in the landscape, this Frederick Law Olmsted-designed property along the shores of Wenham Lake capitalizes on this ancient topography. Rustic stone walls, lawns, ledges, meadows, forests, and vistas are incorporated among a 40-acre farm, estate house, and gardens.
Completed in 1882, Olmsted integrated the latest advances in farming and forestry with a landscape of leisure to be something you explore, with views at each turn of the road on the 275 acres owned by businessman and merchant John C. Phillips. Today, with the fields, forests, and estate grounds clearly defined, Olmsted’s three carriage loops are now walking trails for visitors.
Moraine Farm is co-owned as part of a groundbreaking partnership between The Trustees and the Cape Ann Waldorf School. Sixteen acres are also currently farmed by New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, an initiative of Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, which works locally, regionally, and across the country to strengthen local food systems by supporting new farmers.
The property is permanently protected, thanks to the generosity and foresight of the family that has owned the land since the late 1920s. Two other nonprofit organizations that share a stewardship interest in Moraine Farm are Essex County Greenbelt Association, which monitors the conservation restriction on the property, and the Friends of the Olmsted Landscape, a volunteer group dedicated to preserving the farm’s unique Olmsted heritage.
