The Gray Farm (Sleepy Hollow) from Arnold J. Kaplan
Exploring Pomfret Vermont in Autumn
Today we are visiting the Sleepy Hollow Farm which is between Woodstock and Pomfret Vermont on Cloudland Road. I first read about the Sleepy Hollow Farm in Arnold J. Kaplan’s Vermont photo-Scenic’s,
Driving Alert: The town of Pomfret will close Cloudland Road from 23 September to 15 October this year to stop the level of traffic in front of the Sleepy Hollow farm. The farm has been causing so many traffic issues, that the town finally decided to stop all motorized traffic. Also on the other end of Cloudland Road which is Barbor Rd, that is also limited traffic so no slipping in that way Also if you try to park within walking distance, that will be stopped as well.
I had interviewed Arnold several times over the past years. Over the past year his health suffered and a while back, (2013) Arnold Kaplan passed away. I believe he is making images in heaven now where they are probably still using Kodachrome. 🙂 You can still purchase his guidebooks by following the links at different places in the article.
I purchased Arnold’s “How to find (and photograph) the photo-scenics in Vermont”, years ago. I still have not covered all of the scenic locales inside this pamphlet.
In this article, you’ll find links for visiting his website and picking up his Vermont photo-scenics pamphlet.
Following is Arnold’s description of finding and photographing the Gray Farm. (This was with Arnold’s full approval)
Read about the basics of finding the fall colors here.
The Gray Farm or Sleepy Hollow Farm on Cloudland Road
Description
“This scenic farm consists of two small barns and a house in a valley. They are at the end of a very short gravel road that begins on Cloudland Road. There also is a small pond in front of the barns and the two barns are your center of interest in the most important subjects in the picture area. They can be photographed from various angles along Cloudland Road.”
Directions
(Lat/long (43.65645, -72.50997) “Set your mileage at zero at the beginning of old River Road and Cloudland Road. This is the southern end of Cloudland Road that meets up with Old River Road, the Cushing Cemetery will be on your right.
Drive north 1.3 miles and you will be at a red barn on the right side of the road with a sign on the front that says Elm Grove Farm. This is just a landmark and beyond this barn, you’ll see the Gray farm you can take pictures of the two barns in the Valley through the trees on the right side of Cloudland Road. Drive another 2/10 of a mile from the Elm Grove Farm barn and you will be at the short gravel road on the right side which leads down to the Gray Farm. (Today’s official name for this farm is “Sleepy Hollow Farm”, but we still call it the Gray Farm for the original owners). “
Time of year
“The best time obviously in autumn with the trees in full color the other seasons are okay but do not have the necessary ingredients to make this scenic a prizewinner when using color film.” (Remember, Arnold has been photographing the New England fall foliage scenics longer than most of us have been alive)
Time of day
“The best time to for this location is in the morning from 9 AM till 10:30 AM with the trees in full color as you need the morning direction of the sun to light up the yellow leaves in the trees and turn them gold after 10:30 AM the sun is in the wrong position.”
This is almost verbatim from his scenic guide. I took a little artistic license since I had Google Maps to look at and even dropped a lat/long marker at the farm. The next few pages of the guidebook continue to a couple of other farms right along this road, giving you more details on those farms.
Arnold John Kaplan had been photographing Vermont scenic since the 1950s. He was a photographer for the better part of 70 years, yes he was 97 years old when he passed in 2013. His picture above of the Sleepy Hollow Farm is one he took in 2010.
I found Sleepy Hollow Farm in 2015 for the first time by following his pamphlet, and this is one of the images that I created.
I know that Arnold put in his pamphlet that shooting this after 10 AM isn’t any good, but my shot (just above this) is from around 3 PM in the afternoon and I’m quite happy with it. I find that I usually don’t make it at the right time of day or at least when they say you need to be there. I’m of the opinion that while it may be a little prettier at 9 AM, I won’t pass it by just because I’m there at the wrong time of day.
Picking up your own copy of Vermont Photo Scenics
It appears that his book has gotten a bit dated since the Jenne farm and Sleepy Hollow are preventing visitors and Amazon no longer has it available for sale as of 2024…
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
- Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
- Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
- My Facebook foliage page
- Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
- Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
- You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here
I’d like to share a story about the Sleepy Hollow Farm with you if I may. In 1985 I was working for IBM in Endicott, NY as a mailroom employee. Toward the end of each year companies would send calendars to our employees but if they were not addressed properly we would place them in a box. One of the calendars that ended up in the box had a picture of the Sleepy Hollow Farm for the month of October. On Columbus Day weekend my wife-to-be and I took a trip to find the farm. With a little help we did. We also met the then current owner Henry Wakeman. The initial meeting did not go so well since Mr. Wakeman accused us of hanging a straw cross on one of his barns but we assured him that it was not us. I showed him the calendar and explained why we stopped by. Of course he wanted the picture so I gave him the calendar.
The following summer we were at July Fest in Binghamton, NY and a gentleman had a display of photos from New England. As I rummaged through them I found one of the Sleepy Hollow Farm that was labeled the Gray Farm. I told him that I was quite sure it was the Sleepy Hollow Farm but he told me that the name Gray was on the mailbox. Anyway, I ended up writing a letter to Mr. Wakeman to ask him what he knew of the name. He did write back and explained that he purchased the farm from the previous owner who was named Gray. I think he said Mr. Gray was a lawyer. So, the gentleman with the display was correct, he must have taken the photo when Mr. Gray still owned the farm.
The reason I even thought about the farm today was because there was a TV commercial for Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith being on an upcoming show. A few years ago I read on the internet that Joe Perry bought the Sleepy Hollow Farm.
Ron Dwornik
PS When we found the farm I took a photo from the exact spot as the calendar photo. I also contacted the company that sent out the calendar and they sent me a new one. To this day both calendar and photo are tucked away in my attic.
Thanks Ron, I love hearing the background story behind a location. I love to stop and talk to the owners or other people in the area. OH! and I would take the calendar out of the attic and bring them downstairs and put them together. Let them memory be around all the time to enjoy! (IMHO)