Sugartown Road  in Willistown Township is surely one of the most scenic roads in the area - it was designated a "Scenic Road" in the Township's comprehensive plan for having a high degree of natural beauty and historic significance.  Thanks to the generosity of a land owner, a lot of the scenic rural character there just became permanent.

Betty Moran Completes Permanent Protection of her  

263-Acre Farm on Sugartown Road

On November 21, 2013 Elizabeth R. (Betty) Moran signed a conservation easement protecting 157 acres of her horse farm at Brushwood Stables and Bryn Clovis Annex on Sugartown Road.

The view of the iconic run-in shed from Sugartown Road is nowpermanently preserved.

This easement, when added to previous easements on her property, completes the protection of the entire 263-acre farm. The conservation easement limits the number and location of future buildings on the land and protects the scenic views of the farm from the road. An extensive trail easement on the property is also established by the easement, connecting to and extending the overall trail network on the 263-acre farm.

As with all of the Trust's conservation easements, this easement is attached to the land in perpetuity, so even if the land is sold, future owners must follow its restrictions.

The original 106 acres ("Hundred Acre Field")of the farm was preserved by conservation

The entire 263-acre farm is now protected from development forever.

easement in 1981, when founders of Willistown Conservation Trust became aware that the owner was seeking Township approval for an 82-unit housing subdivision, complete with proposals for extensive public water and sewer. The founders organized a partnership of friends and neighbors, Willistown Land Associates LP, to acquire and hold the property under a conservation easement. The first of its kind locally, this community conservation partnership served as a model for the 5,000 acre King Ranch in Unionville as well as 14 other partnerships that now protect 2,000 additional acres in the Willistown area.

Betty Moran, one of the primary partners of Willistown Land Associates, purchased the Hundred Acre Field in 1983 from the group. Today the entire 263-acre farm is permanently protected from development, and functions as home and nursery to the Thoroughbred mares and foals bred by Mrs. Moran.

Betty grew up in a farmhouse on the property, and shares her inspiration to protect the land: "I want to protect the beauty of the landscape I have known from my childhood". A small plot of land, next to the stump of what had been a 300-year-old Oak that used to tower over the pasture at Bryn Clovis, is the resting place for many of Mrs. Moran's beloved race horses, including Belmont Stakes winner Crème Fraiche. "He always loved it here, and now he can enjoy this spot forever," says Mrs. Moran. Thanks to her commitment to conservation, so can future generations. 

The Trust is truly grateful to the more than 150 landowners in the Willistown area who have permanently protected their land over the past 35 years. Every landowner has a unique story about their property and why they made the decision to pursue conservation, but in every case, a generous heart is at the root of the decision.  Their generosity is a gift that will be enjoyed by people and wildlife forever.

Questions?