The Turner Farmhouse Foundation will host its annual pancake breakfast and open house on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. The free event is open to the community and on-site parking is available, with volunteers able to assist.
The foundation serves as the resident curator for the historic Turner Farmhouse and several other outbuildings on the property at 10609 Georgetown Pike in Great Falls.
Through the Fairfax County Park Authority’s resident-curator program, the foundation is using the other structures on site to create and operate a retreat center, partnering with Becky Love Foundation, Comfort Zone Camps and other organizations to host bereavement programs.
The county government’s resident-curator program allows people and non-profit and for-profit organizations to secure long-term lease agreements for historic properties in public-park settings.
The leases are without charge in exchange for curators’ financial commitment toward approved rehabilitation of the Park Authority’s underused historic properties. The program requires reasonable public access to these historic resources, which often occurs in the form of an annual open house.
Turner Farmhouse, built in 1905 by the Turner family, is in a 52-acre community park located at Georgetown Pike and Springvale Road in Great Falls. The Mark Turner Dairy Farm is an example of the type of farm that predominated in the community during the early 20th century, and the Turners were hailed as model farmers in a 1948 article in National Grange Monthly.
The 3,216-square-foot Queen Anne-style farmhouse exemplifies the cultural, economic and historic heritage of the Springvale and Forestville/Great Falls agricultural communities in Northern Virginia, officials said.
Many of its original details, formal parlor, hardwood flooring and fireplaces remain. Several outbuildings on the property reflect its rural history, as well.
For more information about Turner Farm or the resident-curator program, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resident-curator-program or call program manager Stephanie Langton at (703) 324-8791.
