On Tuesday night, Mar. 18, representatives from Ambler Farm once again told the Board of Selectmen not only how deep in disrepair some of its facilities were, but also that it was the town’s legal responsibility to attend to them if it intended to honor its covenant on the property.
Betty Ambler’s will transferred the property to the Town of Wilton with certain conditions. The 1999 deed agreement between the Town and the Ambler Trust stipulates that, along with restrictions on the use of the 22-acre parcel, the town shall take part in preservation of the Raymond-Ambler House and two barns. If those conditions were not fulfilled the land could be “reaquired” by the trust.
Officials from the independent non-profit Friends of Ambler Farm (FOAF), which was created to operate and care for the property on behalf of the Town, were at Tuesday’s meeting as the BOS tries to lock in what FY 2026 capital bonding projects they’ll bring to voters at May’s Annual Town Meeting. Two of Ambler Farm’s historic structures are on the list.
While the FOAF would execute any renovations, they said it’s the Town’s responsibility as laid out in the deed to fund it.
“We have at no time, as the Friends of Ambler Farm, ever been officially given ownership, or been told we are fiscally responsible,” FOAF Board President Patti Temple said, defending a tentative plan for the Town to bond $1 million for renovations on the Raymond-Ambler House and $1 million for renovations on what is known as the Yellow House (a.k.a. Platt Raymond House).
It’s a request they also made last year.
“Twenty-five years later, the town’s obligation to the property’s historic buildings remains unfilled,” Temple said when FOAF came to the BOS seeking help in February 2024, emphasizing that more than 80% of the Ambler Farm’s funding has come through the nonprofit, with the town bringing just 14% to the table.
With budget numbers tight this year, some BOS members are questioning not only whether they should delay this year’s plan to fund the Yellow House, but also asking exactly how much the town is required to do to help rejuvenate the property.
According to the deed, “The original portion of the main Victorian house (exclusive of the attached rear areas), the white barn and the red barn … must be preserved in their current condition and brought up to satisfactory code for uses as aforedescribed,” including education, museum activities and administrative purposes.
“The town does not appear to have any responsibility, except the main house,” Selectwoman Kim Healy said, reading from the agreement.
Reference to the Yellow House on Parcel B of the deed states that it “may be leased or sold as a private residence only or may be used for municipal purposes consistent with its present architectural design and structure or may be demolished at the discretion of the Town.”
Some of the exterior and foundation work has already been completed on the Raymond-Ambler House, but the inside has been taken down to the studs. The FOAF has plans to restore the interior and create several usable spaces in which to conduct educational programs and events as well as a demonstration kitchen. It would also include a small studio apartment for a caretaker or farmhand.
While Healy praised the design plans, she said the deed didn’t require the town to do all the work that the nonprofit stewards wanted.
“I think the plans are beautiful,” she said. “I would love to see this built. I do not personally believe it is the responsibility of the town to develop the property in the way it is being shown.”
“I think we have a responsibility to fix the front of the building,” she said, noting that things like a kitchen renovation and other amenities aimed at augmenting programming are beyond the scope.
Having requested at its last meeting that representatives of Ambler Farm return to clarify what the funding was needed for, Selectman Bas Nabulsi told Healy that the deed covenant expressed the minimum of what was required by the town.
“I feel like we have an asset in the town that has a mission that aligns with things I think we in the town believe in,” he said, “and the level of investment, to me, is not so over the top that it’s beyond our capacity to see it through so it can fully realize its capabilities, its potential.”
Second Selectman Josh Cole also indicated support for the funding.
“This is an asset to the town,” he said. “We hear all the time about the town doesn’t have enough amenities.”
“It’s gonna need to be a discussion if we, as the stewards of the town, want to propose that the town go beyond the minimum (but) I think there’s value in the programing here,” he said. “I think you only have to look at Ambler Farm Day to see the groundswell of support that comes out.”
“So I think that we as a board need to determine whether or not we want to take this to the community and let the community decide that they want to expend the funds to allow them to expand the program and go beyond our minimum requirement in the deed.”
Ambler Farm Executive Director Ashley Kineon emphasized that FOAF exists as an agent of the town.
“The magnitude of the scope of all that we do on the farm, supporting the town, is an incredibly huge task … If you were to put that on us, you’re setting us up for failure,” she said.
“We are an agent of the town. We have been supporting you since day one. We are here to support you. We’re here to do what the town does not have the resources to do, so that would literally shackle us,” she said of putting the renovation cost burden on FOAF.
“Frankly, if we had to step away because we couldn’t do this, the town would still be responsible for the property,” Kineon said. “You need us to succeed. We need your help in succeeding.”
Seemingly unconvinced, Healy said her opinion might have been swayed had FOAF not sought full funding of the renovations.
“For me, if you had come to us and said, ‘We can offset some of the costs,’ I think it would let me, in my own head, be more willing to go to the town,” she said.
“For me, I feel like that’s the missing piece here,” she said. “I feel like we are being asked to give all of it.”
Kineon explained that there has been caretaking work that the town has not had to pay for, including repainting of the farm’s white and red barns and replacing the roofs on both buildings as well. Those projects were completed through a $225,000 grant secured by the FOAF.
Temple pointed out that the town was made aware of the need for repair work more than a decade ago.
“If this project had been done 10 or 15 years ago, it would have cost a lot less,” she said.