PRESENTING the
Malcolm Forbes Baldwin Fund
Pamela and her late husband , Malcolm Forbes Baldwin moved to their 28-acre WeatherLea Farm in Lovettsville in 1992 after the couple was ready to leave the hustle and bustle of Washington , D . C . Malcolm , an environmental attorney , and Pamela , an international policy maker and keen conservationist herself , were struck by the beauty of rural Loudoun County and knew it was the place to build their family ’ s future .
Once the Baldwins retired , they drew inspiration to undertake grape and sheep farming--as well as the “ farmstay ” concept used in their bed and breakfast from a 1998 trip to New Zealand .
“ Now , we have sheep and llamas on the farm , and we have used wool from the sheep to make blankets and yarn for knitting , said Pamela . “ We host guests who come to stay for a few nights or a week in one of the cottages . We also use the barn for celebrations , such as weddings and concerts .”
As their farming and agro-tourism business flourished , Malcolm developed an interest in the rapid loss of farmland throughout Loudoun County and what could be done to stop it . The Baldwin ’ s decided the best course of action was to place a permanent conservation easement on WeatherLea Farm with Land Trust of Virginia ( LTV ) in 2008 .
LTV , founded in 1992 , works with private landowners to craft a private legal agreement called a conservation easement that protects land and its conservation values permanently . The landowner still owns their proerty , but the conservation easement is a permanent legal document that gets recorded with the property ’ s deed and travels with the property even when the property changes ownership .
“ Malcolm and I wanted to place our property into a conservation easement because it is a historic property
Malcolm Forbes Baldwin
that we didn ’ t want ever to be subdivided and turned into a neighborhood with many modern houses ,” said Pamela . “ It ’ s wonderful to know that the main house on the property began as a log cabin , and that many generations of people have lived here .”
Malcolm ’ s dedication to preserving farmland extended beyond his own property boundary . He co-founded Save Rural Loudoun , was active in the Virginia Farm Bureau , helped create the Lovettsville Cooperative Market , and served on the Loudoun County Rural Economic Development Council and on the LTV Board . When Malcolm passed in 2018 , Pamela and their children wanted to create a way to preserve his memory and promote his conservation work into the future . In 2019 , LTV created the Malcolm Forbes Baldwin Fund to offset the costs associated with placing farmland into conservation .
Two properties in Loudoun County have been protected through the use of LTV ’ s Malcolm Forbes Baldwin Fund , preserving the rural character of western Loudoun just as Malcolm envisioned .
To learn more about Land Trust of Virginia and contribute to their Malcolm Forbes Baldwin Fund , visit landtrustva . org .