The land which Apple Annie occupies was part of the Thing land grant in the 18th century, which was broken up into farms. From 1813 to 1928 the Rowell family owned much of the land on Rowell Road. In 1928, Walter Green, of Lynn, Massachusetts, purchased the land where the orchard is now and the house across the road at 53 Rowell Rd. According to Joe Swasey, who lives on Pickpocket Rd. and is now in his 90’s, Mr. Green planted the orchard in the 1930’s. Joe remembers pasturing his cows there in the 1950’s, but never remembers the orchard being cared for until Deborah Fahnestock bought it in 1976 and began to bring the then 150 standard apple trees (mostly McIntosh, Cortland and Wagener) back into production.

Deborah, a remarkable and determined woman, had the original Apple Annie house, a 1780 Cape, dismantled and moved from Rowe’s Corner in Newton, NH, and reconstructed on its present site. An 1800 barn from Raymond, NH, was also dismantled, and a new 27’ by 27’ barn was constructed where it is now, using the original wooden beams.

Charlie and Joanie Pratt bought the orchard from Deborah in 1983 and connected the house and barn with a small addition when they moved to the orchard in 1984.

Deborah chose the name “Apple Annie” for the orchard business (that is another story!), and the Pratts kept it. They added about 75 semidwarf trees of different varieties over the years, and recently, together with the new owners, replaced a block of about 25 standard trees with 120 semidwarfs of disease resistant varieties: Liberty, Freedom and Enterprise. In 2000 Apple Annie was chosen as a New Hampshire Farm of Distinction.

In 2004, with the support of the Federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Act and the Town of Brentwood, the Pratts put the entire property under a conservation easement, to assure that it will never be subdivided or developed. In March, 2011, after almost 5 years of working together on a transition to new ownership, Wayne and Laurie Loosigian became the owners of Apple Annie.

Written by Charlie and Joan Pratt, August 2011