Furnace Grove is located on the north side of Woodford Road (Vermont Route 9), approximately 1.25 miles east of the center of Bennington, and .1 mile west of the Woodford town line. Set on a rise of land between the Roaring Branch river on the west and a deep ravine on the east, at the base of the heavily forested Green Mountains, Furnace Grove consists of about 102 acres of land with four main houses (#1,# 8,#9, #15), several smaller houses (#16, #19, #21) and many barns and outbuildings (#1a, #8a- 8c, #10- 14, #17-18, #20) . It is quiet, open land along the heavily traveled road from Brattleboro to Bennington.

The landscape of Furnace Grove shows evidence of its past as a center of 19th century pig iron manufacturing then as a summer residence and gentleman’s farm for a wealthy family.

Two of the three iron smelting furnaces are partially intact (#2, #4); in the 1890s, remains of the third (#3) were used to build the entrance gates to the property and the stone walls along the driveway and fields within. The site of the ore mining (#6) is largely undisturbed since the mid-19th century. Remains of a holding pond and six-foot wide canal (#5) that guided water used in the smelting process are still evident, as is the bed of the Bennington-Glastenbury Railroad (#7) that once ran across the property. The original Federal style iron master’s house (#9) is centrally located on a rise of land overlooking the property.

The spacious placement of the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style houses (#8 and #15) along the drive reveal Furnace Grove’s past as a summer residence. The remains of formal perennial gardens, still well-maintained large open lawns, ponds, and unmowed fields of wildflowers recall a well-tended, mid-19th century pastoral landscape.

Concurrent with its rise as a summer residence, Furnace Grove also served as a gentleman’s farm, not only providing food for its residents, but also at times raising chickens and, more recently, heifer cows. A cluster of vernacular barns in the northwest corner of Furnace Grove, as well as sheds and outbuildings elsewhere are still used today.

Few buildings have been added since the early 1900s. The general condition of the buildings runs from poor to very good.

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