April 11, 2024
Growing up on Hidden View Farm in Chester County, where the closest neighbor was a half-mile away, meant Bob Cochran was allowed to roam freely as a child, partly out of necessity.
"You can't see us from the any road," Cochran said. "I was very loose reigned, I was allowed to stay out till quite late because there wasn't much I could get into."
Cochran is the eighth generation of his family to live on Hidden View Farm. The property has been in his family since 1724, so long ago that the original deed — which Bob and wife Adrienne Cochran still possess — was signed by William Penn's sons.
In January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the state awarded the Cochran's the Tricentennial Farm designation, recognizing that the family has owned the farm for 300 years, and earlier this month the Chester County Commissioners visited the property to present the Cochran's with a citation in honor of their longevity on property.
Hidden View Farm is the second agricultural property in the state to be designated as a Tricentennial Farm. The other is about 30 miles west in Rohrerstown, Lancaster County. Pennsylvania also recognizes farms that have existed for 100 and 200 years. A total of 2,300 farms have earned those designations.
When the Cochran family bought its farm three centuries years ago, it was 300 acres. Today, Bob and Adrienne still own 120 acres located in West Fallowfield Township's Cochranville section, which is named after the family. The Cochrans use 35 acres for their businesses, which include hay farming and kennel of fox hunting hounds. They also kept horses until a few years ago. A neighbor leases the remaining land to grow corn, wheat, soybeans and cover crops.
"We definitely take advantage of the land in the sense of farming — even just watching the grass growing, just sitting in the front yard watching the grass grow," Adrienne Cochran said. "There's plenty of places to to just wander, we have trails in the woods, so we have to keep us busy here at all times."
The deed for Hidden View Farm (above) was signed in 1724 by William Penn's sons.
Three brothers from the Cochran family came to Pennsylvania in the 1720s from Derry in Northern Ireland after the family emigrated from Scotland during the time of King Henry VII. Bob Cochran's great-great-great-great-great grandfather, David, acquired the land through a deal that stipulated if a farmer homesteaded land and paid taxes to the king and queen of England for 20 years, they were deeded the property.
David's brother James owned a tavern nearby — that building still exists today, and Bob said it is where his nephew resides — and the third brother Stephen lived on another property in the area.
Over the generations, the Cochran family have farmed crops and raised beef cattle, owned a butcher shop and bred racehorses at Hidden View Farm — there's still the remnants of a training racetrack on the property. The family lives in a farmhouse built in 1857, though older land documents show there had been four or five log cabins for family members on the farm.
Hidden View Farm, aptly named, can't be seen from the road. It's only the second tricentennial farm in the state.
Traditionally, Hidden View Farm has been passed down to the family's oldest son, but next it will be inherited by Bob and Adrienne's two daughters. Preserving a farm for so long, though, does require diligent effort to protect it. The Cochrans said they've received many offers over the years from developers or others who want to build on the land.
"There are lots of people that have their eyes on it for future developments or whatever they might intend it for," Adrienne Cochran said. "But we want to keep it the way it is."
In order to qualify as a tricentennial farm, properties have to be owned by the same family for 300 years and a family member must live on the farm permanently. Farms must also must include at least 10 acres of the original property or gross at least $1,000 each year from selling farm products.
The horses and hounds of Hidden View Farm.
In 2002, the Cochrans applied to preserve Hidden View Fram through Chester County’s Agricultural Land Preservation Program. Adrienne noted that it still can be hard to hold on to large pieces of land in the 21st century with so much pressure from development. Still, the Cochrans are hopeful their farm will keep going for generations.
"Keeping the tradition going is really what we're aiming for," Adrienne Cochran said, "keeping it in the family for hopefully another 300 years."
