Burns Family Farm

Set high in a valley bowl on Crescent Valley Road in Bovina, Delaware County, this 195.5-acre farm was assembled by the Burns family in three parcels: 105.5 acres acquired by Moses Burns in 1801, 50 acres added by John Burns in 1855, and 40 acres bought by Alexander Burns in 1887. The farmhouse, built about 1833 with an addition of about 1870-75, faces a ca.1880 stable and a three-level banked dairy barn that incorporates an earlier four-bay frame. Dry-laid stone walls, some built to keep sheep from climbing them, divide the pastures and line the road beside sugar maples. Census records document dairying, butter production, sheep, field crops and maple sugar through the nineteenth century. A former one-room school moved from Delhi around 1956 became a guesthouse, reflecting recreational use. Later subdivided lots hold non-contributing houses, but the historic farm landscape remains largely intact.