Built in 1864 and nestled on 100+ wooded acres in the Adirondack foothills [town of Salisbury Center NY, near Dolgeville], our family homestead has been a part of our history for nearly 100 years, surviving fires and lightening and the Ingersoll/Yatarola families. But the history goes back a bit further than that. . .
Although it appears there was another home on this property that predates this one, we do know that Levi Stoddard built this house in 1864. During the construction, the Stoddard family lived in the nearby barn (which is also still standing). Over the years it changed hands several times until it was purchased in 1943 by Leon and Hazel Ingersoll from the Peters family, and it has remained in our family ever since.
However, our family history with the farm goes back earlier than that. In the first decade of this century (as best as we can figure), the Ingersolls lived here and sharecropped this property. During the first part of the century they were among many tenants who worked this land; this picture, the oldest one we have of the farm, shows another family living there in the 1920s. Leon Ingersoll always loved this farm and bought it when the opportunity came in the '40s.
When Leon and Hazel bought the farm, it was rundown and abandoned. But they quickly got it into shape and made it a home again. Over the years they upgraded the farmhouse, including new siding and moving from wood burning stoves for heat and cooking to furnaces and electric stoves [Kevin remembers as a child the Ben Franklin stove with the mica windows in the living room].
In 1987, Lois (Ingersoll) and Rudy Yatarola moved to the Farm for retirement,
where they live today. They continued the modernization of the farm (while
retaining it's character) with new furnaces, septic, windows, a brick fireplace
and a satellite dish! The surrounding lands are farmed less often now, but
they have maintained and expanded the beautiful gardens around the house.
As the local farmlands reverted to wild, wildlife has moved back in and it's
not usual to see turkey, raccoons, skunks, and [this year] bear. In 1993,
Kevin and Lynn purchased 82 acres of adjacent wooded and swamp land, bring
the total estate to nearly 200 acres.
With any luck and good planning, Kevin Yatarola will retire there in 2014,
the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the building of our home.