The 32 room “Big House” at Malabar Farm (top picture) is reflected in the pond of this early fall day. The new barn is to the right and the visitor’s center is just visible to the far right. An “All Ohio Spin In” was being celebrated in the farm’s barn (below) and plastic bags of animal and plant fiber are in the foreground waiting to be spun into thread by the participants who are keeping this antique practice alive.

MALABAR FARM—

Down there, near the end of Pleasant Valley Road are 875 acres of a Richland County treasure.

What we know as Malabar Farm today was started by Pulitzer Prize winning author Louis Bromfield who left Europe as World War II was looming and returned to his native area to pursue his second love; farming.

He was born in Mansfield in 1896 and studied journalism at Columbia University.

“His world stretched from the hills and fields of Pleasant Valley to Paris, India, New York City and Hollywood. He was a cosmopolitan in overalls, a thinker who could enjoy a night of drinks and talk in Mansfield’s old Greystone Bar and a reader who found peace in a library or in the quiet precincts of an abandoned farm,” according to a 1986 News Journal article.

He authored 30 books, a profession that made him wealthy. He returned to Ohio in 1938 and soon built the 32 room “Big House” that anchors the farm to this day.

Actors, writers, musicians, statesmen, the rich, and the plain folks of the neighborhood were made welcome there in those days. In May 1945 Hollywood super-stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married there.

The aim of Malabar then was to be a showcase of what farming should be. Bromfield would often be working the fields with his tractor as his fleet of beloved boxer dogs roamed the fields nearby while a famous writer or two might be overseeing the cooking in the kitchen.

After his death in 1956 the farm lingered into financial struggles. Then, in August 1972 the state accepted the deed and pledged to preserve the beauty and ecological value of the farm. In 1976 it became an Ohio State Park.

Today it has grown into those 875 acres with 12 miles of hiking and bridal trails. A huge barn was re-built in recent years after the original was destroyed by fire. The new barn is flanked by a charming visitor’s center and gift shop.

A featured annual event is the Ohio Heritage Days Festival in September. Yet this year you can enjoy a Historical Dinner Theater, a Harvest Barn Dance, a Hearthside Cooking Workshop and Candlelight Christmas Tours.

Do yourself a favor, check the details here: www.MalabarFarm.org.