Land Trust Receives Gift of West River Property
The Guilford Land Conservation Trust has received a generous gift of eight acres along the West River on Route 1 near Long Hill Road from the Sharrer Family, which moved to Guilford more than 50 years ago.
Land Trust President William Bloss said the property would be the land trust’s first significant frontage on Route 1, and preserve a natural riparian location near a highly developed section of Guilford. The land is on the north side of Route 1 at the tidal head of the West River.
The late Madeleine E. Sharrer acquired the property in the early 1950s, when she moved into Island House at 55 York Street. Madeleine Sharrer was an artist who taught painting in her Guilford home and was a close friend of Dr. Elisabeth Adams, for whom Adams Middle School is named.
Her son, Peter, an art dealer in Hillsdale, NJ grew up in Guilford and attended Guilford public schools. Peter Sharrer, who said his mother loved living there, recalls the property featuring a hayfield, a barn with sheep and a wooded section. The property has since reverted to an even more natural state.
The gift of the property to the land trust was made by Peter Sharrer and his sister, Honore Zagorin of Charlottesville, VA.
The land trust hopes to make the property available for low-impact public recreational purposes such as bird watching.
Among the other gifts of land received by the land trust in 2004 were 36 acres on Moose Hill Road from the estate of Effie Good and 12 acres of salt marsh near Cox School from Joel Davis.
