by Marty Green ·
Friday, June 26, 2026
The more than 200-year-old dwelling on Ayer Road had collapsed on itself. View is from the back of the property. (Courtesy photo)
This week, Harvard lost a farmhouse that had stood near town center for more than 200 years. The house at 87 Ayer Road, which had long been uninhabitable, was demolished, leaving only its chimney standing. On its site, however, the town is now gaining nearly 30 acres of new conservation land with forest and trails that lead up to the north summit of Pin Hill with its far-ranging views.
The Harvard Conservation Trust, which bought the 29.7-acre parcel in January, has chosen the name Farwell Quarry for the property. The name honors Luther Farwell, born in 1787, who owned the land and its historic slate quarry for much of the 1800s. Farwell was a founding member of the Evangelical Congregational Church, served as a selectman from 1825 to 1828, and later did a brief stint as a town assessor.
According to records held by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Farwell was one of several local artisans who carved tombstones from the hard blue slate quarried at Pin Hill. Beginning in the mid-1700s, the quarry prospered for a century. Around 1850, however, people began to prefer tombstones of imported marble, with its glossy sheen and varied colors.
An excavator works on clearing the site of debris after the demolition of the house, June 22. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
John Lee, an HCT trustee, said the Farwell property is one of the biggest projects the trust has undertaken. The demolition of the main house and the other buildings around it had to be carried out by a company certified to deal with hazardous materials, as the buildings had asbestos in the roof shingles and aged oil tanks in the cellars.
Lee expects the demolition to be complete within a week or so, after which work can begin on site improvements. These include a new driveway that will lead to an off-street parking area for about eight cars, so that people who want to enjoy the trails have a safe place to park. Some trees at the mouth of the drive will also be removed for safety, to improve sight lines toward the north along Ayer Road. (A public tree hearing was held earlier this month.)
The HCT is now taking the final steps to protect Farwell Quarry under a conservation restriction. The Select Board voted on June 2 to approve that restriction, and state officials have signed off on it as well. The next step, Lee said, is for town counsel to file the restriction with the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.
Lee explained the Select Board’s approval is required by law, because conservation restrictions remove previously taxable property from the town’s tax base. The board’s approval was also a condition for the $425,000 Conservation Partnership grant from the state, which went toward the $1,350,000 purchase price of the land.
While the HCT will own the land, the town—represented by the Conservation Commission—will hold the conservation restriction. The Conservation Commission paid $450,000 to buy the restriction, and that money also went toward the purchase price.
At the Select Board meeting when the vote was taken, Chair SusanMary Redinger asked why a conservation restriction was needed for property already owned by the Conservation Trust. Tom Cotton, also an HCT trustee, explained that the HCT, as a nonprofit organization, does not have the same legal protections that a town entity such as the Conservation Commission has. If the HCT were sued and found liable for damages, for example, it could be forced to sell its land to pay the settlement. Having the Conservation Commission hold the restriction protects the land against that risk, he said.