FRIENDS OF TOPSMEAD STATE FOREST

Friends of Topsmead State Forest

Discover a hidden treasure in the Litchfield hills of Connecticut

Your donations to Friends of Topsmead will help preserve Topsmead's past for the future by:

Expanding/maintaining the butterfly and cottage gardens
Monitoring and maintaining of the songbird nesting boxes
Building a boardwalk over the wetlands on the Ecology Trail
Cleaning and restoring furniture in the Chase Cottage
Hiring a restoration specialist to repair the large painting over the mantle in the Cottage living room
Adding benches to the Welcome Center and trails

If you enjoy our newsletter and Topsmead, please consider becoming a member or making a donation. We rely on these funds for our projects and programs.

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Rear view of Chase Cottage. Drawing by Schell Lewis 1924

In 1917, Edith Morton Chase received a gift from her father, 16 acres of pristine woods in the Litchfield hills. Today, Topsmead is a 510 acre state forest, gifted from Ms. Chase in 1972 to the citizens of Connecticut to enjoy and preserve. Her legacy includes diverse landscapes, including bike and nature trails, formal gardens, unique bird habitats, and a meticulously crafted English Tudor style cottage well appointed with her international collection of art and antiques. ...more

Our Mission

Friends of Topsmead State Forest (FTSF) is a volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to work with the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to provide programs and activities to promote, preserve, protect, and maintain the history, heritage and environmental integrity of Topsmead, thereby supporting the wishes of Edith Morton Chase as put forth in her will.

Become a Friend of Topsmead

Topsmead Events &Activities

REMEMBERING TOPSMEAD

Conversations with
Bob Orintas

Miss Chases' Civic Duty

Even though she was born to a life of privilege, Edith Chase did not lose touch with the daily realities of life for others. She strived to make things better for others and involved herself in civic projects and organizations to enhance the quality of life for those in the community where she lived.

She was a religious person, and one of the first responsibilities she accepted was teaching Sunday school at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Waterbury. She taught one or two classes every Sunday during the school year for over 20 years.

> read more

by Margaret Hunt

CIVIC DUTY | November 2022

photos by Margaret Hunt

Just like that, the October weather flipped from summer to fall. Oops! And then flipped back to summer for the start of November. The Topsmead docent team, led by Jenny Riggs, wasn’t complaining though. The weather was perfect for their picnic and end-of-the-season debrief of their 2022 summer/fall season of conducting house tours through the first and second floors of Miss Edith’s cottage.
-read complete Musings essay-

Ways to Support Topsmead

Donate

Provide or Sponsor an Item on our
Project Wish List!
Plants, mulch, benches, cleaning supplies, etc.
see entire list here

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