Corneliusen Farm Property

Property Name: Corneliusen Farm

Description: Farmland and forested land. Contains an open high point which offers a beautiful view to the south. The land also contains a hiking trail and goldfish pond.

Click here for a map of Corneliusen Farm Property.

Pictures of Corneliusen Farm:

Size: 38 Acres town owned land, additional adjoining privately owned protected land 68 acres. Total protected acres: 106.

Public Uses: Hiking, Cross Country Skiing, Nature, Hunting.

Location: Northern part of Town, between English Range Road & Holiday Ave

Access Via: English Range Road or Holiday Ave

History: The Corneliusen farm was originally an apple and peach orchard. The Town of Derry and the Trust for Public Lands worked together to protect this valuable agricultural land from development. 

In phase one of this creative project, the Town purchased the majority of the Corneliusen farm, approximately 76 acres, for just under $784,000. Sources of funding for this purchase included $125,000 from New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, $100,000 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, $95,000 from the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Farmland Protection Program, $150,000 from the Town of Derry, just under $189,000 from the Derry Conservation Commission’s Land Fund, and $125,000 from close to 50 private contributors.

Adjoining landowners purchased the remainder of the Corneliusen farm - just over 10 acres - for roughly $111,000. This land is permanently protected from development by restrictions held by the Derry Conservation Commission.

In phase two, the town acquired an agricultural preservation easement over 30 acres of land that lie adjacent to the Corneliusen farm and are owned by Philip and Diane Ferdinando, whose family operates J&F Farm. In exchange for this easement, the Town deeded a 38-acre portion of the former Corneliusen farm to the Ferdinando family. Before transferring ownership of this land to the Ferdinando family, the Town placed an agricultural preservation easement over the property. The easement guarantees that the property will never be developed and will continue to be managed as active farmland. 

A conservation easement over the town owned acreage was donated to the Rockingham Land Trust so that these 38 acres of land can never be developed.

“My family and I are happy to be a part of the project to conserve this land,” said Phil Ferdinando. “This kind of outcome helps assure that farming will continue to be a part of Derry’s future, as well as its past.”

Management: The Derry Conservation Commission manages the 38 acres owned by the town for wildlife habitat and low impact recreation. J&F Farms owns and operates a working farm growing a variety of crops on the 68 protected acres. Some of the land is still planted with peach trees.

 

Updated 2/2/06