Staff Report
Published Sept. 15, 2011

Charleston County has taken ownership of the 44-acre Ashem Farm, which will become the county’s next park, according to a news release from the Lowcountry Open Land Trust.

The farm is located on Old Towne Road in West Ashley, adjacent to Charles Towne Landing.

Emily Ravenel Farrow, who died in April, left the farm to the land trust, which transferred the property to the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission.

The commission paid $3.4 million, 65% of the market value, for the farm. Ashem is protected by a conservation easement, which allows it to be valued below market rates.

“A gift of this magnitude is transformative, both to the land trust and to Charleston,” Elizabeth Hagood, interim executive director for the land trust, said in the news release. “The commitment of these community groups to work together to honor Mrs. Farrow’s intent and make her dream a reality is a remarkable convergence of shared vision and expert capacity.”

The park and recreation commission will add an 11-acre tract to the property, creating a 55-acre plot of land for the park. The commission will perform an archeological and historical survey of the land and will study potential waterfront access.

Ashem Farm is the former home of the St. Andrew’s Parish Riding Academy, where Farrow, a decorated rider, gave lessons; it was also a working soybean and vegetable farm.

The Lowcountry Open Land Trust currently has 83,366 acres of land in the region under its purview. Proceeds from the sale of the farm will go toward those efforts.