The history of Appeldoorn Farm, named for the abundant Apple Thorn or Devil’s Snare, goes back to 1722, when Benjamin Schoonmaker and his wife established a homestead on this plot of land. Over the years, the original 130 acre property has been divided into several parts. Most of the land, as well as the main farmhouse dating from 1758, now belongs to various neighbors. Our house stands on 8.5 acres, and includes the gate house, which stands next to the entry and dates from 1854.

This house, known as the Game or Trophy House, dates from 1937. At the time, Howard C. Sykes, whose father had married into the Schoonmaker family, owned the farm. Sykes was a wealthy financier on Wall Street, and invested heavily in the property. Among other things, he built a private airport in the back: you can still see the remains of the runway to the left of Airport Road.

Sykes was an avid game hunter and needed somewhere to showcase the many trophies he had acquired on safaris in Africa, and to gather friends. So, in 1937, Sykes bought an additional 80-acre plot of land from his neighbor Henry DeWitt. This house stands on that land, and was built on the foundation of a farmhouse that had fallen in ruins. Sykes used the stones from that house, as well as the large oak beams from a barn to create a Dutch Colonial Revival house.

Years later, the Sykes family abandoned the farm. For a time, the lands were rented to other farmers, but the buildings sat vacant. We found this house in 2020, and as soon as we saw it, we knew we wanted to have music and arts events here. Three years later, our dream is finally becoming a reality!