Welcome to the historical photo gallery, a collection of photos taken from the archives with many never seen before photos. These vintage photos capture the unique Life, Legend and history of Louis Bromfield’s family, friends and farm life in his rural Ohio farm, Malabar Farm. We hope you enjoy viewing this collection and stop by to see new additions as they are discovered. Click over photos for information about each photo.
Photo Gallery
* Click on any image to learn more, Photo Credits Ohio Department of Natural Resources *
Louis Bromfield became not only a well-regarded author but a famous farmer as well. He wrote thirty books, including one novel that was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. One of his short stories won an important prize named after another Ohio writer, the O. Henry Award. Because Bromfield was a much-respected writer, his circle included other important writers of the time.
Some of his friends, influences, and acquaintances included Ernst Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edna Ferber, and Gertrude Stein. Most of Bromfield’s books were best-sellers. They were translated into over twenty-five different languages. Many of Bromfield’s most popular books are in reprint today and available in paperback through the assistance of the Malabar Farm Foundation, who holds copyrights on all of Bromfield’s works, both published and unpublished.
The main barn, although rebuilt in 1994, utilizes traditional wood building methods perfected by American colonists and is known as timber framing construction. The large white and red oak trees were sustainably harvested from dead oaks trees at Mohican Memorial forest that died from gypsy moth damage years before.
The timber frame barn raising for the new barn was accomplished by volunteer members of the Timber Framers Guild of North America and was hailed as the largest public barn raising in over 100 years. Thousands of people and volunteers came to the farm on Labor Day weekend in 1994 to witness history and see the iconic barn raised from the ashes of the fire that destroyed it a year earlier. Part of that restoration was the painted mural on the main door of the barn. The barn remains preserved, complete with the mural painting, through the efforts of the Malabar Farm Foundation and its dedicated volunteers.
Louis Bromfield had many famous and prominent friends. Here is a photo with Eleanor Roosevelt, the very influential wife of President Franklin Roosevelt 32nd President (1933-1945). In May 1935, Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration (RA) to help farmers. The administration purchased barren land and converted it into pasture, forest, and parks, helping poor farmers on submarginal lands find more fertile ground. The project also gave these farmers small loans to buy livestock, seed and tools. Many of Bromfield’s friends were movie stars, artists, and writers. This photo was taken in the Big House at Malabar Farm.
Smoking meats was a way of preserving meats for the winter on homesteads for thousands of years. The smokehouse is normally a simple wooden structure, but Bromfield took it to another level. The iconic red brick octagon-shaped smokehouse sits beside the historic Bromfield Big House.
Bricks for this smokehouse came from the Mansfield home of Henry Wallace, vice-president of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt. The smokehouse is still used during the Annual Ohio Heritage Days Festival the last weekend in September to smoke meats for the public to smell and enjoy.
The Big house is a combination of the existing Herring farm house (1886) and new construction (1938). The architect was Louis Lamoreux, and the house is designed to look added-on over the years. The house contains thirty-two rooms and a blend of several Western Reserve architectural styles.
The Western Reserve is land in Northeastern Ohio that was claimed by Connecticut for immigration and settlement (1786-1800). The Big House continues to be renovated to preserve it as it was when the Bromfields lived in the house from 1938-1956. Today, the Big House is open with guided tours offered to the public during scheduled times.
Bryce C. Browning (1924-2018) was the founder of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD). Browning’s greatest contribution to agriculture is his demonstration and promotion of good conservation practices. Under his leadership, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District became nationally known. It was established in 1933, and envompassed 18 counties in Ohio, which is roughly about 20% of the state.
Browning implemented several projects between 1933 and 1938 that included buildin13 earthen dams and one concrete dam on the Muskingum River and its tributaries, These dams created a number of reservoirs (Pleasant Hill and Charles Mill) which are still in use today. He served an 8-year term on the National Resources Commission, has been chairman of the Board of the American Forestry Association, and is a life member of it.
Browning is one of the founders of Friends of the Land along with Louis Bromfield in 1941. Bromfield leased several hundreds of acres from MWCD adjacent to Malabar Farm property for farming. Bromfield’s farm staff also helped plant thousands of trees on MWCD lands for soil and water protection. Bromfield gave high praise to the MWCD district for its efforts in soil and water conservation by attacking the source, agricultural lands and farming practices that stripped the topsoil and increased erosion.
