Farm to Expansion

The water tower, farmhouse mansion, and many supporting buildings of the Three Pillars self-sufficient farm (on the North side of Hwy 18) allowed the Three Pillars community to thrive for many decades.

The mansion, built in 1873, would stand until it was no longer in good repair. Due to the cost of restoration, the uncertainty of its usefulness, and its age of 91 years, demolition of this building was necessary in 1964. George Van Brunt also built a two-story stone horse barn in 1874 for the purpose of pedigree horses. Mr. Van Brunt owned Ripon Boy, a nationally renowned mahogany bay trotter. The horse barn area was later used to house sheep, cows, and feed. Finally, it was used as a garage for resident parking. This building was demolished in the 1970's. 

In 1934 beef cattle were added to the farm, the orchard consisted of 125 fruit trees, and over 1,000 berry bushes. By 1944 livestock consisted of 7 horses, 36 head of mature cattle, 30 head of young stock, 11 brood sows, 65 pigs, 20 fall shoats (young pigs) and 500 chickens. In 1955 over 32 gallons of milk were used at the Home each day with savings of about $8,000 for milk alone. For the year the farm provided 4,225 dozen eggs, 4,810 pounds of beef, 2,590 pounds of veal, 960 pounds of chicken, and 11,695 pounds of pork. 

In 1972 the farm had above-average annual production, but the barn, built in 1840, burned to the ground due to arson. A new pole barn was built to protect cattle. The farm operations eventually ceased in the mid 1970’s as the campus expanded and changed.

Progressing forward, on August 15, 2022, Three Pillars announced plans for the next generation of active adult living. The $125 million campus expansion will take place over the next couple years and beyond. The expansion project will start in fall 2023 and will bring 114 new independent resident housing units along with a new state-of-the-art memory care building.