Jamie,
This is beautiful. Serene and noble. Perspective is right on.

Jo

Left by Jo Castillo on September 13th, 2007

If only you knew how special this picture is to so many people. I spent all my summers on this farm with my sister and her husband, Sherry and John Gaudelli and their 2 boys. I even lived there with them upon graduating from high school in Fla. in 1967.
This particular picture looks straight at my brother-in-laws office and was the center of the farm.
I have so many happy, fun memories of this place I still consider it my childhood home. All the times I went horseback riding thru the woods and my sister never worried about me. She always said “if the horse comes back without you, then I’ll come looking”. I walked thru this farm and the fields surrounding it every night during the summers. The horses would see me coming and know I had pockets full of sugar cubes and would come to meet me.
We would actually sit outside of my sisters house up on the left of the farm and at that time there was no interstate, we could actually count the number of cars that came down Rt. 312. It wasn’t many.
My brother-in-law John, was actually the manager of all 3 Tilly Foster Farms for nearly 30 years and before he moved there it was a dairy farm. It looked like one.
If only people could have seen all the beauty he instilled in this place, the barns he turned into beautiful Cantinas and the special one called “no rhyme or reason, and how beautiful he kept it.
John passed away in 1990 (still living there with Sherry). Sherry and I have been back there only a few times since. It has never looked the same, sad to say.
I have no idea what the future will hold for this wonderful place, but in my heart I will always remember it as it was over 40 years ago. My place of serenity.

Left by Ann (Sirois) Aultman on April 28th, 2008

Jamie,
Thank you for responding, you really shocked me. Yes, my sister’s house was the small white house over on the side by the pond. Straight up the driveway and bare left.
The “No Ryhme or Reason” was the barn directly to the left of the office in this picture, right in back of the tree. I’m not sure what it is now, I haven’t been back since it was sold to the county. It used to be just a hay loft. My brother-in-law was born and raised in Italy and was an unbelievable carpenter. He turned that simple hay loft into the most magnificent, I guess you would call it party place. There was always something going on there. I remember one New Years Eve party there when one of the Benedicts daughters actually brought a pony inside to the dinner table. My nephew’s daughter, who is now in college, had her baptism party there. I also remember baby showers, weddings and also sadly funeral receptions there. John’s funeral reception was there. It was called no”rhyme or reason” because it really had none. It had a huge dining area, beautiful stone fireplace, big bar area and actually had no rhyme or reason, in comparison to the Spanish “Cantina” and guest house right across from there. There used to be a hot tub room with beautiful tile work also in this building. John built every bit of it and it was actually featured on the cover of some building magazine. Can’t remember the name now. Sherry would know.
That building used to be John’s work shop, until he changed it to the Cantina. I was originally married in 1968 and had many wedding pictures taken there in front of that fireplace, in the guest area upstairs. Unfortunately, that marriage didn’t last, but oh well, I have been happily married for 30 years now.
I could go on and on about all the memories, but there are just too many.
I am so glad to hear that the farm is safe for now. I pray it will remain a place where people will always be able to go to and just feel the peace and beauty.
One more thing. Just behind the “Cantina” was an apartment that was built for one of the Benedict daughters and under it was a huge kitchen. I failed to mention that not only was John an unbelievable carpenter, but also a fantastic cook. That was “HIS” kitchen under that apt. He cooked meals for Mr. Benedict and many, many special and even famous people who came to visit on weekends. Those were the days long gone, but the memories will live forever.

Left by Ann (Sirois) Aultman on April 29th, 2008