Tuttle's Red Barn
Encyclopedia
The Tuttle Farm of Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...

 is located between the tidal waters of the Bellamy
Bellamy River
The Bellamy River, in Strafford County, southeastern New Hampshire, is a tributary of the Piscataqua River about long. It rises in Swains Lake in Barrington, west of Dover...

 and Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...

s on Dover Point, and has been operating continuously since 1632.

Tutle Farm has often been referred to as the oldest known family-owned farm in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

; however, this claim has been challenged. The Shirley Plantation
Shirley Plantation
Shirley Plantation is an estate located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. It is located on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg...

 in Charles City, Virginia
Charles City, Virginia
Charles City is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Charles City County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 133....

 was founded in 1613 and been in operation since 1638..

History

The Tuttle Farm has been passed down across eleven generations of Tuttles from father to son since John Tuttle arrived in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

 bearing a land grant from Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

. The original 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) parcel granted to John Tuttle was expanded over time and reached 240 acre (0.9712464 km²) at its peak during the twentieth century. The farm currently comprises 134+/- acres.

There was one break in the father and son chain of ownership of the farm when Joseph Edward Tuttle died while his only son was a baby. Joseph's brother William Tuttle inherited the farm upon Joseph's death and served as caretaker of the farm for 40 years until his own death in 1911 at which point ownership of the farm passed to George Tuttle, the then mature son of Joseph Edward Tuttle.. The current owner of Tuttle Farm is William Penn Tuttle III (Will Tuttle).

Farm Buildings and Crops

The Tuttle Farm compound includes the Tuttle's twelve room antique colonial residence (circa 1780) which has been updated, greenhouses, storage barns and a modern retail facility.
The Tuttle Farm currently cultivates 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of vegetables and berries. The farm's largest crop is sweet corn. 25% of the Tuttle Farm is classified as wetland and 60% is wooded.

The Tuttle Farm includes a modern upscale 10000 square feet (929 m²) retail facility constructed in 1987 adjoining an old barn, the original "Tuttles Red Barn". The retail facility conducts business as "Tuttles Red Barn" and sells Tuttles own produce, a variety of groceries, plants, gift items and gourmet foods from many countries.

Current Ownership

Will Tuttle (William Penn Tuttle III) is the current owner of Tuttle Farm. Will Tuttle, and his older sister, Lucy Alger Tuttle, are the current co-owners of Tuttle's Red Barn.

Conservation Easement

In 2007, Will Tuttle sold a conservation easement on the Tuttle Farm to the Strafford Rivers Conservancy for $2.79 million with funding provided by the City of Dover ($1.195 million), the State of New Hampshire Department of Transportation ($1.34 million) and the Federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program ($155,643). 25% of the Tuttle Farm is wetland and 60% is wooded.

Farm Offered For Sale

Since July 25, 2010, the Tuttle Farm and Tuttles Red Barn have been listed for sale. Will Tuttle, the Tuttle Farm's current owner, cites exhaustion, his age (he is currently in his sixties) and the lack of a younger generation of Tuttle showing interest in taking over the Tuttle Farm as his reasons for offering the farm for sale.
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