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Autumn Haze Farm Autumn Haze Farm dates back to the turn of the 20th century when the land was purchased by a gentleman named Wesley Peyton (1891-1963). The 100 acre partial land was formerly a part of a larger 400 acre Murphy track of land. In 1925 Wes Peyton sold off 40 acres of the land. Mr. Peyton was in the timber business. He built this farm house with wood from timber that he cut off his land. He lived out his life in this house with his wife, Bertha Leen Thompson Peyton (1894-1965) until his death in 1963 at the age of 72. Betha Payton died November 7, 1965 at the age of 71. The Peytons were married on 20 Sept. 1913 in Rappahannock County, VA. The Paytons raised their two daughters on this farm; Emma Peyton Morton and Kathleen Peyton Williams(1920-1990). Wesley and Bertha Peyton are buried in the nearby Grigsby " Hedgesville" Cemetery. Their daughter, Kathleen is also buried there. The Payton house remains in a restored condition as it was built. It is typical of early rural Virginia home construction 100 years ago. The garden area shown here has been gardened for this entire period and continues to be tended each summer. This fertile soil at Autumn Haze offers exceptionally good gardening and has served as farmland for the past one hundred fifty years. An abundant amount of fruits and vegetables are still grown here each year. The surrounding hilly woodlands and fields also offer refuge to an abundant amount of wild life; including white tail deer, black bear, wild turkey, grouse, and the usual amount of fox, rabbit and numerous other small game. A stocked pond offers good fishing andexceptional relaxation.
Having purchased this abandoned farm in April 1968, it was observed that the farm house had the possibility of being restored. The house had been orignally constructed in the early 1900s from lumber cut off this land . The oignal owner was in the timber busiess. Itt had a very heavy metal roof that had provided protection from the weather. The roof was painted and the old chimney was refurbished, Over the following few years work was done to restore the farm house by adding electricity and a newly constructed bath room addition off the kitchen, along with a front and back porch. The entire inside of the house received new drywall with new steps leading to the two upstairs bed roorms. The 26 ft. deep well had been hand dug in very dense sandstone in the early the early 1900s. The bottom of the well contained about 2 ft. of debris from being open because the well cover had rotted away. To remove the debris a 55 gallon drum, with the top removed was lowered to the well bottom and was filled with years of debris. It was cold and rather sacary decending to the bottom of the well on a ladder that was only 20ft. in length. However, the debris was removed and the well capped with a concrete cover. A shallow well pump was installed and the well furnished lots of fresh watert to the farm house. Water stood six ft. deep in the well. Additionally, a septic system was installed. The septic tank cavity was dug in the hard sandstone by hand, using a mines pick. The walls were made using well parged concrete block. The drain field line was dug by hand to a area over 100 ft. from the septic tank to the location of the drain field. This septic system project required a lot of back breaking labor to complete. In the early years of 2000 the farm house was renovated with vynal siding to replace the deteriorating orignal weather board siding. The inside of the house was renovated with engineered wood flooring in the kitchen and new carpet in the other three rooms along with new paint. In the summers of 1968 a half acre pond was established on the Autumn Haze Farm land. It was well stocked with lots of blue-gill fish, catfish and large mouth bass. Bass weighing over eight pounds have often been caught in this pond. Additions to the farm include a large garage and "witches hat" style barn. For many years he farm was used as a weekend retreat family members and friends. It now stands empty but still maintained.
A VIEW OF AUTUMN HAZE FARM TO REMEMBER : Year -1970. |
