Campbell homestead – Photo: Anton Tutter

Jabez Campbell (1775-1854) held the earliest recorded property deed for the land that is currently named Zelený Les. The original c.1851 Greek revival farmhouse built by Jabez and his son William, and a c.1900 hemlock barn, were sited at the center of the land parcel in a valley at the foot of Kidd Brook, in close proximity to a permanent spring. The land remained home to three generations of the Campbell family until 1940, at which time the deed changed hands with an influx of vacationing urbanites from New York City.

Antonín Tutter, a post-World War II Czech immigrant and his wife Adele, residents of Brooklyn, New York, purchased the land as a seasonal property in 1965 and named it Zelený Les – Czech for “Green Woods.” In the late 1980’s they built a year-round retirement home at the northeastern crest of the hill bordered by the main road. Views from the new house were oriented towards the valley and the original homestead. Subsequent years took their toll on the dilapidating farmhouse and barn. In accordance with the conditions of a pending conservation easement, they were removed from the site in 2009. The structures were demolished, compressed in a pit, and reduced by fire where they burned for over twenty-four hours.

controlled burn of 2009 – Photo: Dennis Friedler

In the days preceding the demolition and fire, an enormous honeybee colony inhabiting the farmhouse was discovered and rescued by a local beekeeper.

Portion of rescued bee colony – Photo: Anton Tutter

Chronological timeline of Zelený Les milestones from the mid-19th century to the present