Historic Tanglewood Farm
Nigerian Dwarf Goats

History of the Farm

 Tanglewood was built in 1871 by the A.G Thomases (Thomas brothers) as the home of the Alban Thomas family.  At the time Tanglewood was a large working farm, and what remains today is 22 acres plus the farmhouse and outbuildings.  Tanglewood remained in the Thomas family until 15 years ago, when it was purchased, and the house extensively renovated over the course of 10 years by two subsequent owners.  The larger barn was restored when Jill and her husband bought the property, and additional buildings were built to house goats and sheep.  

At one time 3 families occupied the home and for many years the spring on the property provided water for the house. Tanglewood has one of the few ice houses remaining in Montgomery County.  Before electricity, people would cut ice in the winter from ponds located on their property, such as the one at Tanglewood.  The icehouse is about 12 feet deep, with walls of stone.  The ice would be stored in the icehouse in straw or wood shavings, to be used over the warmer months to cool perishable food in iceboxes in the kitchen. On the Tanglewood property is a spring house where food like milk and butter would be cooled by circulating spring water through troughs in the floor. The structures can still be found near the stream that runs through the property.   

Kitchen fires were disastrous in the late 1800’s, when everyone cooked with wood or coal, and houses were built of wood.  No fire department or fire hydrants were available when a fire started.  As insurance against the threat of a fire Tanglewood has a large cistern in the attic, and it could be used for water in the event of a fire.  An outdoor sleeping porch is found on the top floor of the house, and it was used during the summer to escape the heat.  Fireplaces are in each room of the house, and these were used to heat the house in winter.