Rose Cottage

Nature Connects Generations

a family legacy of conservation

By Ben Payne

A growing appreciation for nature

We always called it “The Farm,” even though we didn’t participate directly in the agricultural pursuits. In fact, only a minority of the parcel was cleared and actively farmed; the focus of our activities was the shoreline of a serene seaside tidal creek and what my father affectionally called the “100 Aker Wood” (with apologies to A.A. Milne).

My parents purchased the Rose Cottage farm in the months before I was born, and it was the idyllic escape from our Tidewater home, travelling by ferry back then, where the whole family could explore the outdoors and experience the unique environs of the Eastern Shore peninsula. My sisters and I were frequently turned loose here, and we grew up with a special appreciation for the natural world, flora and fauna, that most of our urban counterparts missed.

Although a few other houses were discretely located on the creek, it retained an undeveloped charm, with shorebirds, gulls and skimmers sharing the waterways while we crabbed, fished, and swam in the summer. The winter months brought the annual migrations of waterfowl that we enjoy in Delmarva, with their familiar cries. The winter also allowed easier exploration of the swampy woods, when the colder temperatures and shade froze the ground to facilitate walking, and the snow provided a medium for the woodland creatures to leave their tracks.

Historic Home, Rose Cottage, Bears Witness to Generations of Nature Explorers

According to a local historian, the house was built by Caleb Upshur in the 1760’s, shortly after he married, and was home to two subsequent generations of his family. If the walls could talk, I’m sure they would recount family lore typical of those early years of our country, infused with the experiences that accompany the natural setting that they enjoyed. They left behind a family cemetery down by the creek, now lost, that speaks to the tie that they shared with the land and environment that nurtured them.

Other families moved in, and a small 3-grave cemetery relates a small sampling of their lives and losses. The house was eventually abandoned and fell into substantial disrepair. It was saved by a returning WWII veteran, who took up the project of restoring the building and allowing our generation the opportunity to enjoy the unique experiences of our youth.

Ensuring Natural Spaces for Future Generations

My wife and I took ownership in the 1990’s. We’ve turned our own three children loose on it, allowing the land to stimulate a full appreciation of the natural world and the outdoors in all of us. We’ve canoed and sailed the creek, hiked the fields and woods, and even camped, despite comfortable accommodations nearby. We’ve launched to the nearby barrier island seashores and walked in the evening woods to hear owls and chuck-wills-widows. Our children have watched the snow geese crowd the sky in the winter and experienced the osprey return with the spring; they’ve crabbed and fished from the same pier and lost shoes wading in the same sucking mud.

This chance to preserve this unique setting and retain the opportunity for future people to have it imprint on their lives was assured when we chose to put a conservation easement on Rose Cottage, creating, with several of our neighbors, a unique sanctuary in our seaside creek. We think Caleb would be proud of his legacy.

Easement History

Ben and Emarie Payne placed a conservation easement on Rose Cottage in December of 2006. His sisters Meriwether and Ruth and her husband, Eric, preserved the two other family properties Seaview (2005) and Bearskin (2006). The three properties were originally purchased in the 1960s by their father, Lee Payne, who encouraged them all to preserve the land. Together they represent 406.5 acres of conserved land along Finney Creek in Accomack County, Va. They are adjacent to Nickawampus Farm, 379 acres also protected with an easement through VES Land Trust.