Marking the largest conservation purchase on the Vineyard in recent memory, the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank announced Thursday that they will buy 304 acres of undeveloped land at Red Gate Farm, the historic, ecologically rare oceanfront estate in Aquinnah owned by the family of Caroline B. Kennedy.
The purchase price is $27 million for two distinct sections of the property. The Kennedy family will retain ownership of 95 acres in the center of the property, where their homes are situated.
A purchase-and-sale agreement was signed this week, with a closing set for December, leaders at both Sheriff’s Meadow and the land bank said.
The land bank will contribute $15 million to the purchase, while Sheriff’s Meadow will contribute $12 million.
The purchase will include a mile of pond frontage and half a mile of Atlantic-facing beach. The property, which will be renamed Squibnocket Pond Reservation, will be open to the public after a yearlong biological study, both organizations said.
Red Gate Farm encompasses some 340 acres of stunningly beautiful windswept coastal dunes, wetlands, hillocks and salt-blasted heathlands between Moshup Trail and Squibnocket Pond. The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program has described the property as one of the most important tracts of land in the commonwealth.
It served as a private retreat for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis until her death in 1994, and has remained family-held until now.
About a year ago the Kennedy family put much of the property on the market, with an asking price of $65 million.
The purchase is being called below-market because it is less than the appraised value of the land, Sheriff’s Meadow executive director Adam Moore said.
It also marks a first for the land bank and Sheriff’s Meadow, who will jointly hold title to the property, based on their proportional shares of the purchase price (56 per cent and 44 per cent respectively).
“This is perhaps the most significant acquisition in the history of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Mr. Moore said. “It’s very similar to the 1967 effort led by Henry Hough to preserve Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary. It’s a wonderful thing for all the people of Martha’s Vineyard and all the generations to come who will all be able to enjoy an appreciate the beauty of this land.”
He said Sheriff’s Meadow has already raised $9 million of the $12 million it will contribute toward the purchase. Another $1 million matching donation has been put forward by a donor, he said.
Land bank executive director James Lengyel also underscored the significance of the purchase.
“Someone said this is why we created the land bank,” and I think that’s true, Mr. Lengyel said. “With a property of this nature you grope for the right adjective to describe it, and the best word I can come up with is singular — it’s a singular property.”
He said the land bank will borrow the $15 million from the Martha’s Vineyard Bank, making the purchase even more affordable than if the land bank issued a revenue bond, which it is legally authorized to do — and also making it an all-local transaction. “I’ve got a lot of thank-you’s to make and a very big thank you goes to the MV Bank and [bank president] James Anthony,” Mr. Lengyel said.
Most of all, he credited the Kennedy-Schlossberg family.
“You’ve got to give credit where credit is truly due,” Mr. Lengyel said. “They had many, many, many options and they chose conservation.”
Mr. Moore said conversations with the family have been under way for most of the last year, and negotiations began in earnest this spring, with the land bank included.
Land bank revenues come from a two per cent transfer fee on most arm’s length real estate transactions, with the money used to buy conservation land. Sheriff’s Meadow is a private, nonprofit land trust.
Mrs. Onassis bought Red Gate Farm in 1978 for $1.1 million from the Hornblower family, saving it from potential development and creating a refuge for herself from an exceedingly public life.
She and her daughter fiercely protected the land over the decades.
The property originally incorporated 31 lots, but in 2005 the family consolidated it into seven lots in a limited subdivision plan that anticipated separate parcels for each of Ms. Kennedy’s three children. The plan was approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission a year later.
In 2013, Ms. Kennedy and her husband Edwin Schlossberg gifted an additional 30 acres north of Moshup Trail to the Vineyard Conservation Society. The society has been engaged for many years in an initiative to protect and conserve the globally-rare heathlands along remote Moshup Trail, a ribbon of road that curves through the extreme southwestern edge of Aquinnah with its wildlands and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Two other lots were placed on the market the same year — one fronting the ocean and another fronting Squibnocket Pond — but were never sold.
Mr. Lengyel said the town of Aquinnah also played an active role in the purchase, among other things through the town land bank advisory board, which will take the lead in managing the property. A draft management plan calls for creating trails, beach access, a kayak launch, limited parking and two trailheads, one coming off State Road and another off Moshup Trail.
Sheriff’s Meadow president Peter Getsinger echoed remarks about the significance of the purchase, and he singled out the new partnership between Sheriff’s Meadow and the land bank as an important forward-thinking step.
“This is the first time we have done anything of this size with the land bank, and I think given what’s happening with land valuations on the Vineyard, this partnership in conservation could be a blueprint for the future,” Mr. Getsinger said. “We are two organizations with different funding sources but our missions are very similar. Hopefully we can build on this.” He continued:
“We’ve got a race on right now, it’s a race between conservation and trying to keep the Island as it wants to be, against the development that is on the rise.”
He also said despite the fact that Sheriff’s Meadow has raised most of the money for the purchase, more funds will be needed, both to complete the purchase and create an endowment for maintenance of the property.
“We want to see a lot of small donations going forward,” Mr. Getsinger said. “We have more to raise and I have no doubt that we will raise it, but we want people to know we have more work to do. I don’t want people to think they don’t need to give.”
Finally, he said he hoped the purchase would inspire others, including owners of family-held lands, to make conservation a top priority.
“I hope that what we are seeing is a new movement in conservation on Martha’s Vineyard,” Mr. Getsinger said. “This Island needs to be protected, not exploited. I’m thrilled with the announcement today.”
This article appears in September 4, 2020.
This is fantastic news, in a time when good news is rare!
There goes the hood
Hope we get fishing and swimming holes
What are you talking about? Hundreds of acres will be undeveloped and you whine? You sound spoiled.
Would you rather have it bought by some of the Super Rich who will post guards to keep you off? Or were you planning on becoming one of the serfs that keeps the rest of us off the rich people private property?
Three cheers for the Land Bank, the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, and the Kennedy family!
Well done and thank you
This makes me very happy. This took giving on each side to preserve this wonderful land. Thanks Land Bank, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and the Kennedy/Schlossberg family.
Wonderful news!
Awesome news for 2020, amazing property!
More property off the tax list that will raise everyone else’s taxes to make up for the loss in tax revenue. We are becoming very rapidly an island of the have and have nots that will be able to pay these higher taxes for less services. And now with people moving here from high crime cities to be safer.
Wow, talk about looking at the glass as half empty…or completely empty? I think this is amazing, and I applaud all parties involved and look forward to enjoying the property in the immediate future and for many generations to come.
This is great news. These premier properties are exactly the sort that the Land Bank, Sheriff’s Meadow, Trustees, etc. should be focusing on, rather than small inland connecting properties. This beautiful piece of land can now be preserved and enjoyed by the island community. Surely that’s better than it being used for the personal enjoyment of another billionaire buyer, which is really the only sort that could have afforded that property.(If only the Graham estate could have been preserved rather than used as a buffer property.) And surely it’s better than the land being subdivided, overdeveloped, and not protected. But resident troll John Gault makes a valid point, perhaps by mistake. Aquinnah does need to increase its tax base. Town leaders have been saying so for years. Property is becoming more and more unaffordable. We have seen the writing on the wall for decades and failed to act. And while it’s a thorny issue, conservation restrictions do play a role in exacerbating that problem. It’s not wrong to acknowledge it even as we celebrate this great act of conservation. Thank you to the Kennedy/Schlossberg family for prioritizing the land and public good over a bigger payday.
The developed, and therefore, from a tax perspective, most valuable, part of the property is remaining in the family’s hands and will remain on the tax rolls, no doubt at a higher rate now that it is surrounded by conservation lands. The Town and the Island are gaining far, far more than we are losing. We are very fortunate that the Kennedy/Schlossbergs are so committed to preserving this rare habitat. As development pressures on the island accelerate, the decades spent building strong conservation organizations are standing us in good stead. Thanks to all involved in working out a deal where everyone gains. I am a delighted neighbor, despite the fact that my taxes will probably now go up too. If one pulls back and gains some perspective, our taxes here on the island are not that high, especially when you consider the privilege of living in this extraordinary place where we can be in relatively pristine nature on a daily basis.
Excellent points, Mitzi. As a fellow neighbor, I’m delighted too. Thanks for your perspective.
Thank you, Mitzi, very well said. We are also very happy about
this purchase and the conservation of this wonderful area. We have nothing
to gain from oversized homes and the nitrate loading into the waterways
that comes with keeping perfectly manicured lawns around Menemsha
and Quitsa Pond except more pollution and exclusivity.
This purchase is a saving grace for our town and the Island. Thanks to the Landbank
and Sherriffs Meadow and other conservation organizations, we have the luxury
of so many beautiful vistas and pristine nature.
At the end of the day, this is why everyone loves the Island!
Thanks also to the Schlossberg family for working this out, and
being so incredibly generous.
May Jackie O’s spirit live on!
Why so grumpy? You’ll be able to drop a kayak into glorious Squibnocket Pond!!
There is currently a public kayak launch in squibnocket pond…
If conservation properties drive up taxes and development brings them down then why does Chilmark have the lowest tax rate?
Hint: Conservation land does require government services or send anyone to the public schools. And cows rarely commit crimes.
This is wonderful. At last it will be available for everyone to enjoy! Many thanks to Sheriff’s Meadow and the Land Bank for choosing to do this.
Let’s hope the public gets access to some of the beaches and please allow more than a few parking spaces. If the public does not get both parking and beach access it is just another tax right off deal for the wealthy. As that is what Sheriff’s meadow is known for.
Absolutely, Make sure there is plenary of parking and access to everyone. Otherwise it is not a good deal for anyone but the family. This property has been on the market for a while. Good deal for the family…..
How is it a tax write-off? They will be taxed based on the gain derived from the sale price relative to the original basis of the property.
Great news for the island, people and ecology. But do hope the Land Bank staff can stop the trespassing into adjacent properties and unauthorized traffic on fragile dunes of the type regularly occurring on Chilmark Pond and South Beach. No one likes to confront knowingly trespassing strangers originating from Land Bank property often multiple times a day. With $27M available for this acquisition and regular complaints throughout the years the awareness and resources are there, just not the management or willpower to ban repeat trespassers or otherwise achieve success.
The Land Bank does not have a good record in this area (controlling trespassing), most especially regarding beach access and marking clearly where their beach ends. Perhaps Sheriff’s Meadow can encourage them to do better.
Radical thought: it’s the private beach that’s the problem. (sorry!)
It really needs to be returned to the original care-takers and i am confident it will in the long run. Why nobody stopped and considered Indigenous organizations at a time like this, for this precious land beats me. It holds so much cultural and survival value to the Wampanoags. This demonstrates clearly how much progress we still need to make and that most (well intentioned) people are still captured in their colonial thoughts and actions.
Totally 100% agree. May the God’s rectify this.
So it can be clear cut & put up a casino?
Unfortunately we cannot turn back the clock to the 17th Century.
For our place and our time this is the best outcome available.
Also for preserving and honoring Native American legacy on that property.
May I refer readers to the tale of the Judgment of Solomon.
I think this is great news!!!
Wonderful news for the Vineyard. Congratulations to Sheriff’s Meadow, the Landbank and to the family… a spectacular property and an investment in all our futures.
Thanks to the Kennedy -Schlossberg family who will convey a fabulous piece of very special property to two groups who will keep it forever unspoiled. Rather than capitalizing and/or creating a gated community (or worse) they have honored their commitment to the sanctity of this incredible piece of land. Anyone who can’t find some joy and hope in this should be condemned to forever live in misery and squalor forever.
Please take away the second “forever” or figure out how to observe that the land will remain Forever Wild!
Wonderful news!nice that it won’t be developed!
Fingers crossed that SM and the LB take Saskia Vanderhoop’s hint of involving the Wampanoags in the preservation, maintenance and opening of this land to public access
What would the Wampanoags want that the conservation organizations won’t already do?
I hope that access to these properties will be for everyone.
Incredible news. It could be even better if the conservation group would work with the Wampanoag people to preserve and caretake this land.
There is such a need for more access to beaches and parking . With that enormous amount of land, certainly a roomy parking lot , bikes and cars will be accommodated .
VTA needs a bus stop there as well ….
this land is conserved and also needs to be available to the public, as the public did fund the purchase thru their transfer Taxes …
No casino please !!!
Great thanks to the land Bank, Sheriff’s Meadow, and the Kennedy=Schlossberg family for this incredible gift to the Vineyard today and to its future.
Amazing!
What wonderful news. Kudos to all who contributed to making this happen, especially Caroline Kennedy. Your mother must be smiling down upon you today. Well done!
Wonderful news. We are so fortunate to have stewards looking forward toward the Island’s future.
Thanks to all who worked toward this amazing acquisition.
Land Bank easily coughs up 27 million for a property that only billionaires should be able to afford. Meanwhile island towns bicker and fight with each other over issues such as the shared high school budget. The Land Bank is the island’s own personal version of the defense budget that seems to increase and increase with little to no objection. I strongly feel that this money could go to better uses, and yes conservation is important, but other issues are more pressing
So donate your own money.
Reading an article before commenting can help keep you from embarrassment. The land bank’s share of this transaction is 17 million, not 27 million. The land bank’s mission and funding do not extend to the high school budget or to other uses.
I think the purchase is fantastic. But we should also understand that it represents a decision to spend Martha’s Vineyard’s resources on open space rather than schools and other needs. I believe you are correct that the Land Bank’s mission does not extend to the high school budget (and I doubt it could spend it’s money there). But there was a decision made to use the government taxing power to collect money from residents that would go to open space and not other things. The decision was an excellent one, but we should still understand that it reflects a choice to use available funds for open space and not other worthy things. Open space preservation is critical to Martha’s Vineyard’s present and future; and serious resources should be devoted to it. But there is no free lunch.
Huge thanks to Sheriff’s Meadow, the Land Bank, and the Kennedy-Schlossberg family. Thanks also to the Natural Heritage and Endagered Species Program for planning to do an ecological survey.
Fantastic news. This is absolutely the most pristine property on the Vineyard and what an incredible collaboration between the Land Bank and Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation – Beautiful, wonderful.
How wonderful that this breathtakingly beautiful land will remain as it is. Thank you to Caroline Kennedy for choosing conservation over monetary gain.
Bravo! Outstanding news — great excitement now for a whole new slate of “up Island” experiences! Thank you to all involved! Our childrens’ children thank you too!
A transaction of this magnitude is complex. Everyone benefits to my way of thinking. Islanders for the protection of and the future use of this lovely piece of property, the family who donate this property for the tax breaks; the surrounding property owners as this avoids overbuilding on this property, I see a win for everyone. The family have kept a few pieces of property for their own use as I understand from the published stories concerning this property.
What a wonderful gesture by the Kennedy-Schlossberg family. Great to see more of the island becoming conservation land accessible for all to enjoy.
Thank you second home owners. Without your 2% “donation” to the land bank that we do not pay this wouldn’t be possible. Thank you and thank you.
Everyone pays the 2%.
Not true, first time homeowners who occupy for a certain time up to a certain amount are exempt. So, second property owners always pay. And yes, many islanders pay but if it’s a first time purchase and they live there they pay only a percentage over the threshold amount.
And let’s not forget the role of the MV Bank for providing below market financing. Even the the too many Sour-puss’ should be great full and give a shout out Thank you Caroline for the incredible gift and foresight. We are indeed lucky.
Incredible news! Thank you to all parties involved in the good work of conserving one of the most beautiful and biologically diverse properties on the Island and in the commonwealth.
Spectacular and a welcome breath of relief. Kudos to all for the hard work and tough choices.
Bravo to all involved! A nice surprise in an otherwise dismal year.
This is exactly what the Vineyard is about! Preserving land, keeping the integrity of the island in tact as far as conservation goes and the community responsibility of great organizations and the bank. This land is precious and ecologically a gem. Celebrate the great purchase.
Fantastic! Now, if only our town’s Historic District Commission would step up to the plate and follow our By-Laws. Competing differences in preservation and development is, unfortunately, taking its toll in our 17th c. village, and the VTA with their horrific “renovation” plans for tiny Church Street to become the “Hub” for buses on the island is beyond belief.
I applaud the Land Bank and Sheriff’s Meadow for doing the right thing: preserving (conserving) land and wish they’d be role models for our town and the VTA.
Indeed. I have previously written my disapproval of the VTA plans for Church Street. It fairly boggles the mind that anyone would wish to put that type of industrial development in the middle of Edgartown village. I simply cannot conceive of it. Our village is getting noisier and noisier with huge air conditioner condensers added to houses that are close together, huge pool equipment day and night noise, song birds are being forced out by all the noise of machines. We are changing the village to the detriment and the peaceful enjoyment of our properties by the homeowners. Our village is for the residents.
This is wonderful news. I am elated that this property will be preserved to be enjoyed by the public. We are blessed. Thank you to all who brought this to fruition. Can’t wait to hike the trails!
“Conservation and preservation are closely linked and may indeed seem to mean the same thing. Both terms involve a degree of protection, but how that is protection is carried out is the key difference. Conservation is generally associated with the protection of natural resources, while preservation is associated with the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes. Put simply conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use.”
Such good news. Thank you for making this happen
Can someone please explain (A) the degree to which this transaction will vastly increase auto/bike traffic along Moshup Trail and how that (with attendant parking) will negatively impact the environment ? (E.g., fuel emissions, driving challenges, land area for parking, etc.) And (B) how the Town of Aquinnah will fund its new traffic enforcement responsibilities? and (C) IWhether it is arithmetically possible that Aquinnah taxpayers can conceivably avoid any increase in the amount of their property taxes? No question whatsoever that this is a beyond sensational event. That said, lots of folks don’t really understand the ABCs above and maybe we need a big Q&A to spread the gospel and calm the doubters.
What a piece of happy news at this time. The dedicated work of Adam Moore and James Lengyel is to be commended. The nine million already raised by Mr. Moore makes this Derby Day’s Mint Julep taste even better. The neighbors Mitzy and Chris are neighbors for which one prays to have. Congratulations to all!
My only concern is how will you regulate potentially hundred’s of walk on beach goers? I’m sure someone will start a drop off shuttle here? Then the place will get littered with beer cans and plastic left overs. Manage that, and then it will be fine. You will need a guard to restrict quantity of access and prevent hoards of people with beer coolers, etc..
I agree. The management plan will have to come up with realistic measures to prevent the property from being “loved to death.” Calls for major parking areas give me, for one, the heeby jeebies. One possibility would be limited parking and a shuttle from the cliff area to the property.
The property is large enough possibly to allow for two access points. The Land Bank has figured out ways to limit access to the carrying capacity of their other properties, so they should be able to figure out something here. Perhaps phase in access policies and measures gradually instead of opening everything up with a bang. That would also makes things easier on the Town of Aquinnah.
The problem with the Land Bank’s method of limiting access is that it prevents working folks from accessing the properties. It keeps the properties pristine for the elite vacationers but the average family, if they ever all get a day off together, is not going to pack up the kids, drive to a trailhead and expect the young kids to hike to the beach with no access to sanitary facilities. Any parent knows this is a recipe for disaster. It is very effective at blocking out families without nannies or au pairs, menstruating women, and anyone in less than tip-top physical ability. Oh, and anyone who wants to be sure that they will be welcomed upon arrival. Surely the Land Bank could sufficiently staff an operation that allows all to enjoy some of the south shore. Cape Cod National Park does a splendid job of this. Perhaps the Land Bank could partner with them? It would be a win win for everyone! The crowds at the scant public beaches (State and South and Inkwell and Tashmoo and Menemsha and Eastville) would be disbursed over a wider area and the space creates fewer Covid risks to benefit everyone.
A big thank you to all involved! It appears to be an outstanding, thoughtful outcome. I look forward to many hikes there.
This is amazingly wonderful news!
Thank you Caroline, Ed and family
and to all the Conservation players
who worked hard to make this ‘deal’
come to fruition. We and our progeny
are forever grateful!