44 Acre West Ashley Farm to Become Public Park

CHARLESTON - Emily Ravenel Farrow and her husband Ashby, were among the first Charlestonians to use a conservation easement to protect a historic property when they worked with the Historic Charleston Foundation to preserve their home at the time, 64 South Battery St., so it was only fitting that Emily, "Miss Em" to many who knew her well, would bequeath her family farm to an organization that would protect it.

Ashem Farm, a contraction of Ashby and Emily, was left to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust upon Emily's death in April. Ashby had passed away years earlier. In 2005 Emily Farrow put a conservation easement on the land, giving the LOLT control of the development rights of the property, and preserving its rural character in perpetuity, according to LOLT Executive Director Elizabeth Hagood.

"She loved this place and didn't want it to change," Hagood said. "You can see it's surrounded by shopping centers and subdivisions, and she didn't want it to become that."

Emily's family owned the land going as far back as when the Carolina Colony was first settled, according to Tom O'Rourke, Executive Director of the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission. The PRC, which already owned an 11-acre tract adjacent to Ashem Farm, recently purchased the farm property from LOLT for $3.4 million. LOLT plans to use the funds to conserve even more properties.

"PRC is only the third owner of this property," O'Rourke said. "The best news of all is we're the last, and that's really important."

PRC plans to conduct a public master planning process for the site following an archaeological survey of the property. Being so close to the site, PRC and LOLT officials are excited about the possibilities of uncovering significant archaeological sites on the property.

"This site will dictate what we do with this property," O'Rourke said.

"It will be passive recreation, not a water park or soccer field," Hagood said. "Maybe if it works out it will have horses, that would certainly honor her legacy."

Over the years the Ashem site was used to farm soy beans, various vegetables and pecans, and was the home of the St. Andrews Parish Riding Academy.

A champion equestrian in her own right, Emily Ravenel Farrow learned to ride horses on the property from her parents. Later she started the academy to teach others to ride and to help bring in revenue during tough times, said Ashem Caretaker Bruce Bailey.

"Like the pecans, that was a cash crop that they brought in to make ends meet, the academy was the same type of thing," Bailey said.

Bailey served as the property's caretaker for the past five years, though his friendship with Miss Em goes back nearly 40 years. Bailey's brother-in-law kept horses at Ashem's stables and Bailey met Miss Em at the farm one day. Being a Ravenel in Charleston, Emily was related to a substantial portion of the population, including Bailey's mother whose maiden name was Stoney.

During his time as caretaker Bailey has gotten to know the property well.

"There are trees out here that I think measure up to any of the historic trees in Charleston," he said.

The property includes three homes, three barns, a dock on Town Creek and several fields. The PRC plans to combine the Ashem property with the adjacent 11-acre tract it already owns for an overall park covering 55 acres. However the park will not be opened to the public for some time as a detailed archaeological survey must firt be carried out.

The Lowcountry Open Land Trust to date has 250 conservation easements protecting more than 83,000 acres.