{"nrhp_refnum":"73001520","name":"Malabar Farm","other_names":["Louis Bromfield's Malabar Farm"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"SE of Lucas on Pleasant Valley Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lucas","county":"Richland County","state":"OH","lat":40.64955074350004,"lon":-82.39047153776315,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Conservation","Education","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of about 580 acres near Lucas in Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio, made up of the farm established in 1939 by author Louis Bromfield. It includes his house, a main barn and outbuildings, tenant houses, secondary barns and a 19th-century house called Malabar Inn.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Bromfield deliberately built Malabar Farm to show that badly eroded land could be restored to productivity. He used techniques such as contour plowing, green manure, lime, balanced fertilizers, grass silage and farm ponds. The farm drew thousands of visitors, mostly ordinary farmers, and appeared in national farm publications and Bromfield's books. It is unusual because a private individual created it so that farmers and others could learn from his successes and failures.","narrative":"Malabar Farm is a working farm district of roughly 580 acres in Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio, near Lucas. Author Louis Bromfield, who had lived in France for much of his literary career, returned to Ohio in 1938 and bought three run-down farms the next year. He combined them into Malabar Farm to show that eroded land could be reclaimed and made to produce food. The property includes his large 1939-40 house, built around an older residence and combining elements of several Ohio architectural styles, along with a main barn, milking parlor, silos and other outbuildings. Tenant houses, secondary barns and the 19th-century Malabar Inn, a summer restaurant, stand elsewhere on the grounds. Fields still show contour farming and water-control work from Bromfield's time. He used contour plowing, green manure, lime, grass silage and farm ponds, and his farm drew thousands of visitors and wide publicity. It was listed for its significance in agriculture, conservation and science.","period_of_significance":"1939-56","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Main house designed to embody elements of several architectural styles found in Ohio","criteria":[],"status_note":"State-owned and in good condition; the main house is in excellent condition and holds most of Bromfield's possessions, with a caretaker and curator in residence. Malabar Inn is used as a restaurant in summer, and the farm is open to the public.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.276517-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001520.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001520/eeb5835d66-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001520/eeb5835d66-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jerward at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horses_at_Malabar_Farm.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerward at en.wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horses_at_Malabar_Farm.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991090","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabar_Farm_State_Park","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6740737"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/richland-county/malabar-farm-73001520/"}