Malabar Farm Ohio State Park

On December 27, 1896, Louis Bromfield was born in Mansfield, OH. Although he longed to be a farmer in the tradition of his father and grandfather, Bromfield’s mother insisted he strive to be more. During WWI, Bromfield drove a U.S. ambulance in France and upon his return to the U.S. he became a journalist in New York City. While in NYC, Bromfield married his wife, Mary Appleton Wood, the daughter of a prominent New England family. However, Bromfield was discontent with his life as a journalist in NYC and decided to move his family to Senlis, France. 

Bromfield’s tenure in France introduced him into the ranks of the “Lost Generation” -- a loosely associated group of American authors who lived and worked in Paris in the decades between the two world wars. Bromfield was a prolific author, penning 34 books during his 33 year career. In 1927, Bromfield’s third novel, Early Autumn (1926), won the Pulitzer Prize and by the 1930s, he was regularly working on film scripts for Hollywood. One of Bromfield’s most well known novels was The Rains Came (1937), and in 1939, he adapted it into a successful film. The Rains Came also served as the inspiration for the Malabar Farm name. Bromfield set his novel along the Malabar Coast in soutwestern India, a spot he had visited during his travels in the 1930s. Finally, after thirteen years in France, Bromfield heeded the warnings of impending war in Europe and moved his family back to Ohio. 

In Ohio, Bromfield purchased three farms nestled in Pleasant Valley and combined them into one: Malabar Farm. Using a small farmhouse on the property as a base, Bromfield and his local architect, Louis Lamoreux, expanded the structure to include 32 rooms. The Bromfields soon began referring to their home as “The Big House”, a fitting name it still holds today. Bromfield loved the idea of tradition and he wanted his new home to appear to have grown over the course of a century rather than the mere two years it took to build. To create this illusion, Lamoreux incorporated different elements of Western Reserve and Greek Revival architecture. The interior of the home included French decor and was spacious enough to house Bromfield’s three daughters -- Anne, Hope, and Ellen -- as well as his manager George Hawkins and many guests. Over the years, Bromfield entertained countless Hollywood stars. When Joan Fontaine visited, she assisted with the birth of a calf while Key France once visited and stirred apple butter in a churn. Most famously, Humphrey Bogart and Laruen Bacall were married in the Big House at Malabar. 

Malabar was Bromfield’s attempt to show the world that run-down land could be restored with inventive farming practices such as crop rotation, diversification, and organic farming. He was a conservationist well ahead of his time. In his lifetime, he invested much of his money from his novels and films into running the farm. However, after Bromfield’s beloved manager, George Hawkins, and his wife passed away, he struggled to maintain the farm and a positive spirit. On March 18, 1956, Louis Bromfield died at age 59 after a secret year-long struggle with bone marrow cancer. Bromfield left Malabar Farm nearly bankrupt and the property was at risk of being developed until a group of local businessmen and Hollywood stars created “The Friends of the Land” to purchase Malabar. After this group disbanded, the Nobel Foundation purchased the estate until they too bankrupted the property. The State of Ohio finally stepped in and turned the farm into a state park in 1976. Today, the 715 acre park serves as a museum, home for livestock, and a place for hikers to traverse multiple trails.

Bongartz, Roy. "Malabar Farm: Louis Bromfield's Paradise Lost". The New York Times. May 19, 1974. Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/19/archives/malabar-farm-louis-bromfields-paradise-lost-aim-of-the-experiment.html

Bromfield, Louis. Pleasant Valley. 4th ed. Wooster: Wooster Book Co., 2008.

"Historical Timeline". Malabar Farm Ohio State Park. Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.malabarfarm.org/history/historical-timeline

"Malabar Farm State Park". Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Accessed February 27, 2021. https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/malabar-farm-state-park

McKee, Timothy Brian. "The Big House at Malabar Farm: in time, history, concept and design". Richland Source. April 22, 2017. Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.richlandsource.com/area_history/the-big-house-at-malabar-farm-in-time-history-concept-and-design/article_dcefad88-252b-11e7-87b5-b34a383cee10.html