Peninsula’s Heritage Farms selling 85 acres, but it won’t affect Christmas tree operations
Nearly two centuries ago, a man came to Peninsula from New York state and started buying land.
Today, his descendant, Carol Haramis, and her husband, George, still own the farm her ancestor, Lawson Waterman, started. They operate it as the popular Christmas tree farm Heritage Farms.
The couple is selling 85 acres of their 115-acre property, but they said it won’t affect operations at the farm.
“It was time. We decided it was time for somebody else to be able to enjoy it,” Carol Haramis said.
“We'll continue to do Christmas trees the way we do every year,” she added.
Heritage Farms listing with Pickard Commercial Group
Jim Pickard, president of Pickard Commercial Group, the commercial real estate company listing the property, said there’s been interest in developing it for residential use, with several homes on the site.
The 85-acre property at 6050 Riverview Road in Peninsula is for sale for $3.485 million, or $41,000 per acre, according to its listing. The listing says the land, which is zoned for residential-agriculture, would be “perfect for a private residence, farmland or park.”
Pickard said there’s been “a lot of interest” in the property — mostly local — with several tours and phone inquiries.
Pickard said there are no scenic easement restrictions on the property, which means the nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park can’t control what can be done with it.
The land is outside of the park boundary, so the park isn't interested in acquiring it, a CVNP spokesperson said.
Pickard also said the water and sewer services the county plans to bring to Peninsula “will come in real close proximity” to the property.
“The water and sewer that's coming in Peninsula is just gonna make this even more desirable for development,” he said.
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Heritage Farms celebrating its 175th anniversary
Heritage Farms, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, offers events and services year-round, including its Christmas tree operations with cut-your-own fields, Pumpkin Pandemonium in the fall, Peninsula Flea in the summer, primitive camping, vacation rentals on Airbnb and opportunities for private events and weddings.
There have also been activities that have come and gone at the farm, including the Countryside Farmers' Market, Fairy Days and the sale of daylilies.
George, 70, and Carol, 66, said the key to the farm’s success is that each generation has done something different to ensure it endures, with the previous generations always being supportive.
The fifth-generation family-owned and -operated farm was founded in 1848. It’s previously been a canal boat building operation, a potato farm, a dairy farm and a beef cattle farm.
Lawson Waterman, who came to Peninsula in 1836, started to buy the land that would become the farm between 1844 and 1878.
In 1868, his nephew, Charles Bishop, came to help out on the farm, which he and his wife, Kate, inherited. In 1948, their grandson, Robert Poole Bishop, and his wife, Jeanette Knoeppel Bishop, took it over and started the Christmas trees in 1955. Their daughter Carol and her husband, George, run the farm, which was once known as Bishop Farm, today.
Photos of all of the previous owners hang in the dining room of the house in which they all lived. The house, which was built in 1852, is where Carol grew up and still lives with George.
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Land for sale at Heritage Farms is mostly forest
George Haramis said the land that’s for sale is about three-quarters of a mile from the main entrance of the farm.
The sandstone quarry on the parcel has been used as a swimming area for 67 years, Carol said. There are about 10 acres on the land that they use for growing Christmas trees, but the rest is a mature forest.
The couple, who will celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary in March, said they’ve never included those Christmas trees in their official tree counts, with George calling it a “surprise supply” and “a little bonus.”
The farm has about 20 acres of Christmas trees, or about 11,000 total trees. George said the Christmas trees make up 60% of their total gross revenue.
George said the property “almost has a primeval feeling,” noting that it includes a few ravines, a few ridgetops, two creeks, a pond and the sandstone quarry. It’s bounded by the national park on two of the four boundary lines.
“You feel like you're really in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “And we used to go back there an awful lot, but we …were back there (last summer) and realized, gosh, neither one of us had really been back here for a couple years. What are we doing with it?”
“We'd go out to the area that had the Christmas trees on it, but we really aren't out ridge running and hiking in the woods anymore,” Carol added.
“We used to ride back there when we had horses. We used to do all kinds of things. But it's not part of our life anymore. There's nobody in the family for whom it will be part of their lives. They're just not here,” George continued.
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Future of Heritage Farms
George said they don’t have “any serious preconceptions” about how they hope the land is used.
“I think we certainly hope that whoever buys it buys it because they love the property, because it's extraordinary,” he said.
George and Carol don’t have any biological children, but they hosted 23 exchange students from 10 countries that they consider their kids.
Over time, their farm manager, Thad Walters, who started working at Heritage Farms when he was 12, has taken over more responsibilities and represents the farm's next generation.
“The farm will continue to be run by somebody who really loves the valley and grew up here,” Carol said. “It's a son of our heart instead of a son of our blood. But the next generation is taking over.”
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Heritage Farms selling 85 acres, won’t affect Christmas tree operations
