• Home
  • Events
  • Donate
    • Friends of Topsmead General Fund
    • Memorial Tree Fund
  • Projects/Volunteer
  • History
    • Remembering Topsmead
  • Membership
  • Contact
  • Musings
  • Visitor Info
    • Topsmead State Forest Map
  • FAQ
  • Scholarship Program
  • Chase Family Holiday Cards
  • Login
FRIENDS OF TOPSMEAD STATE FOREST
  • Home
  • Events
  • Donate
    • Friends of Topsmead General Fund
    • Memorial Tree Fund
  • Projects/Volunteer
  • History
    • Remembering Topsmead
  • Membership
  • Contact
  • Musings
  • Visitor Info
    • Topsmead State Forest Map
  • FAQ
  • Scholarship Program
  • Chase Family Holiday Cards
  • Login
Picture

FRIENDS OF TOPSMEAD STATE FOREST


Discover a hidden treasure in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut
Open Year-Around 8 am until Sunset
donate to the preservation of Topsmead
"To this day, Topsmead remains my favorite place on this earth. "
-Bob Orintas

 
Picture


quick links

> Projects/Volunteer Opportunities
> Visitor Information & Trail Maps 
​> Scholarship Program
> Ask Bob (Remembering Topsmead)
> Musings from Top 'O the Meadow
> Memorial Tree Program

​> Project Wish List
> CT DEEP
​> Frequently Asked Questions
> Friends of Topsmead Board 2024-2025


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 Edith Morton Chase put forth in her will.
Become a Friend of Topsmead
Picture
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
Read the Current Newsletter
    Stay Up To Date With ​Friends of Topsmead!
    We will not share your email with others.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
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.
Become a Member or Donate

featured

Picture
The diversity of Topsmead dogs! Read about them in this month's Musings
Picture
Miss Edith with her dog Jacques


Topsmead Events

​ &Activities


ASK BOB
​

Robert Orintas
The new format for Bob's "Remembering Topsmead" 
Bob Orintas, the son of John Orintas, Miss Edith Chase's chauffeur, has been sharing his wonderful essays recounting his memories of Topsmead on our website each month for more than four years! Thank you Bob!  In thinking about what else to chronicle, it occurred to us that perhaps our readers might have some questions for Bob which he has not yet addressed. So, we decided to offer the opportunity for everyone to do so.  We hope you jump right in. 

Please send your questions via the button below. Starting in April, your question may be one that Bob responds to in our newsletter and on the website!  
Ask Bob a Question


When was my last summer at Topsmead
​
and how was it memorable?

​

​​This is a hard question to answer because there was no clear-cut end to my time at Topsmead. In fact, the Friends of Topsmead has enabled me to feel connected to the property even in my old age. Miss Edith in her will, gave my parents lifetime access to their home at Topsmead. She was very good to her employees that way. But for me, it’s kind of sad to think of the last years I lived at Topsmead because the main house was empty.

My last full summer as a child would have been in 1946 when I was 9 years old. After that my summer “Topsmead time” was limited to our two-week glorious summer vacations and weekends. This was because my mother opened a luncheonette in Waterbury with her sister, so we were in town with her. However, my dad commuted to work at Topsmead during the summer. In 1962, my mother retired from her business and Miss Edith completely refurbished our house at Topsmead because my mom was coming back.
 ​>>read more
Picture
Musing from Top o' the Meadow
by Margaret Hunt  (photos by Margaret Hunt)
Picture
Edith Chase's photograph of her jonquils in bloom
Vertical Divider
Thank You, Miss Edith, for Diversity
and Inclusion!     May 2025
photos by Margaret Hunt
I was savoring the first warm May day when a friend called asking if I felt like meeting at Topsmead for a dog walk.  She cautioned, "Remember I have Sherlock as well as Maggie, and Amy will be joining us with her dog Remy."  Of course!  The more the merrier.  We met at the main parking lot, introduced the dogs to each other, grabbed poop bags from the Friends of Topsmead poop bag station, and set off on our walk.


I was struck by the diversity represented by our four dogs:  Gloria the Standard Poodle, Maggie the Labrador Retriever, Remy the Rottweiler, and Sherlock the Springer Spaniel.  Each dog had its own coloring and coat quality: curly black, smooth yellow, black and tan, silky red and white.  Each dog had its own breed-specific behavior:  100% focus on its owner, nose to the ground sniffing, relaxed but alert, and tail-waving ADHD-ness.  And yet all four of them got along famously.   
-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
  • Home
  • Events
  • Donate
    • Friends of Topsmead General Fund
    • Memorial Tree Fund
  • Projects/Volunteer
  • History
    • Remembering Topsmead
  • Membership
  • Contact
  • Musings
  • Visitor Info
    • Topsmead State Forest Map
  • FAQ
  • Scholarship Program
  • Chase Family Holiday Cards
  • Login