AUGUST 5, 2021
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 31
Farmer Brown continued from page 3 to glow emerald green nearly half the year. You could say the year he started working at Rogues’ Hollow was the year Russell became Farmer Brown. He was 21 years old, skinny but strong, and eager to work. He and Mr. Lueters not only had a love of farming in common, but also military service. Lueters had recently retired as an Army captain, so he helped his new farm hand get into government-sponsored classes on the agriculture business. “They held the classes up there in Lincoln,” Russell recalls, “and the government paid you 93 dollars a month to learn farming. It was really somethin’.” It didn’t take long for Farmer Brown to consider the farm more than his place of employment, but his home. He moved into a small tenant house on the property and got to work. “At first, I put out twenty acres of corn. I cut it and shucked it by hand, then shoveled it into the corn crib. Everything was done by hand at first. Nothing was easy,” he recalls. “I used horses to cut the hay, rack the hay. … The cows were milked by hand. It was nothing how you picture farming today. Eventually—thankfully—that all improved.”
Photo by Douglas Graham
Brown spent most of his life farming, using horses to plow fields, cut hay and plant crops.
By 1950, machines changed the pace of the work for most farmers in Loudoun County—and made Farmer Brown’s life a lot easier. Decades later, the farmer still talks about the day an M International Tractor arrived at Rogues’ Hollow. It was the day everything changed. “Oh hell, with the horses, you had to keep ’em clean, keep ’em fed, keep ’em healthy. This tractor, aside from maintenance every once in a while, I basically just
turned it on in the morning and turned it off at night.” That tractor became his calling card. Anyone who lived or regularly drove along Old Waterford Road got to know Farmer Brown, always atop the M International, dressed in a plaid shirt, baseball cap, with a border collie at his side. The property was bought and sold over the years—Mr. Lueters sold it to Leonard Dyke, who later sold it to Neil Nichols—but
New corner continued from page 7 way that The Corner Store in Waterford has evolved has been based on community feedback married with my interest in design and estate sales, and rearranging and sourcing interesting things from different places,” she said. Customers should come to expect the same thing from Holway and The Corner Store with its impending arrival in Leesburg. “The way that I work is, I don’t come up with five-year plans; things kind of evolve organically based on my relationships,” she said. The relationship that brought Holway to Leesburg was her friendship with Cowbell Renss Greene/Loudoun Now Kitchen owners Cheryl Strasser and Bre Sarah Holway is bringing The Corner Store to 26 N. King St., as part of a partnership with next-door Grant. “I had developed a relationship with neighbor Cowbell Kitchen. downstairs rooms are unthemed. On the Cheryl through our mutual appreciation she said. For Holway, the new space gives her an- ground floor, which boasts a living room for the local farming community. This space became available—they wanted space other opportunity to market her unusual feel, shoppers can expect to find home defor an office and indoor dining room, and finds. The Corner Store’s inventory is spread sign items like rugs, lamps (a personal fawe felt like it would be mutually benefi- throughout four rooms in the building. The vorite of Holway’s), furniture and more. All of The Corner Store’s items are vincial. I’m excited for all the possibilities that top two floors contain garden and kitchen we haven’t thought of or planned out yet,” and pantry-themed items, while the two tage or used.
for nearly 70 years, the farmer, with his border collie and tractor, remained a constant. In the winters, Farmer Brown and his tractor pushed snow off Old Waterford and the other narrow roads that split off into farmland and horse pastures. The man-and-machine duo spent warmer months haying the properties between Waterford and Leesburg. At first, they hayed just Rogues’ Hollow. Then, they hayed neighboring farms. When those open fields were replaced with master-planned housing, many of the new homeowners decided to keep small hay fields, mostly to qualify for a tax cut. But still, Farmer Brown and his tractor kept up their work, haying the sloped fields that surrounded the new homes. Farmer Brown eventually, and reluctantly, left Rogues’ Hollow. It was 2017. He, and his canine companion, now live in a small home near Lucketts. The farm now operates under a new owner and new name, but if you drive by slowly, you can almost spot the tracks from Farmer Brown’s M International carved into the course gravel of Old Waterford Road. n This story was originally published by America’s Routes, an organization dedicated to capturing the images and stories of Loudoun County’s historic gravel roads, with the ultimate goal of preserving them. See more of the group’s work at AmericasRoutes.com.
“I don’t buy anything new,” she emphasized. “I’ve never bought a new piece of furniture in my life—for myself or the store.” She describes the vibe of the store as bohemian, mid-century, with a hint of upstate New York. While Holway said she mixes “all eras,” she has a particular soft spot for the upstate New York region, specifically the areas of Ithaca and Cooperstown, and its signature old, wooden furniture. Her family is from that area, and she has spent a lot of time antiquing in those parts, she said. As far as future collaborations with Cowbell Kitchen, Holway said the possibilities are numerous. The owners have already chatted about utilizing some of The Corner Store space to host private events, like bridal showers or rehearsal dinners, and even collaborating on work for weddings, given Holway’s flower-arranging skills and Cowbell’s handmade cakes and delicacies. A grand opening celebration is planned for 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, and the store will officially open for business the following day. For more information on The Corner Store, go to thecornerstores.shop. n
