August 27, 2012

Bird Haven Revisited

I came across pictures I took at Bird Haven two years ago. Back then we had a connection with the owners of the property so we were able to look at the old buildings, although this house was the only one we could safely enter. The others could only be photographed from the outside.
From time to time I get an email about Bird Haven because I mentioned it on my blog before. I don't know if it was ever sold; it was in foreclosure at one point. Anyway, I want to put these out there for posterity.
Taken through the windshield
Once an Arts and Crafts Center
Seen through the Door
Bird Haven is near Bryce Resort in western Shenandoah County.


5 comments:

  1. Birdhaven was purchased at the foreclosure sale. The new owners are completely re-doing the property with hopes of opening a tourist farm. It was slated to have a grand opening this summer but I've not heard anything about it, so the work must have been delayed. I know this because the caretaker of the property is a personal friend. Feel free to email me at cjalex44 at gmail dot com if you want to cover it more.

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  2. Thank you, Carol, for that information. Let us know if you hear when the grand opening will be.

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  3. Lovely place and nice to hear its been saved.

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  4. My husband and I acquired Bird Haven at the foreclosure auction September of 2010. We are working with a farmer who apprenticed under Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm. He specializes in sustainable agriculture. We have renamed the property "Bird Haven Farm". It is a work in progress. We have pigs lounging in the woods and some cattle.

    We are trying to salvage as many of the old factory buildings as we can. The old cinderblock lacquer building has been converted into a brooder house for baby chicks.

    I don't expect we will ever have a grand opening. and although we can't have people wandering about the property without us knowing it, if the gate's open and you can find one of us around, stop by and say hi.

    We wish we had more time to gather pictures and history of the place, but we are consumed with trying to get the farm up and running smoothly. If any one has old photos of the people, the place or some of the products they produced there, even stories they remember, we'd love to see and hear about them.

    My great grandparents used to run the Old Alum Springs Hotel immediately next to Bird Haven. So if anyone has pictures or stories about that, I'd love to hear about that too.

    Anyway, I came across this posting and I thought i would write in.

    L. Carr
    Bird_Haven_Farm@att.net

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  5. Thanks you, Mrs. Carr! This blog gets a lot of hits from folks searching for Shenandoah Community Workers or Bird Haven and I know they'll love your comments. If you obtain any related photos that you want to share, I'd be delighted to post them.

    Love the idea of pigs lounging in the woods! I follow Joel Salatin on Facebook.

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