Armstrong House Project: Our Mission
What is this project and how does it further the Land Conservancy's purpose?
The overarching mission of the Pound Ridge Land Conservancy is to preserve open land in its natural state here in town.
The Armstrong House is aligned with and promotes this mission by providing a residence to a professionally trained land steward with the aim of bringing expert land stewardship practices to the PRLC preserves and other protected open space in Pound Ridge. These stewardship capabilities will supplement the volunteer efforts currently existing in the organization. A land steward could put in place programs such as deer/woodland health inventorying programs, an invasive plant management program, work with high school students on a variety of ecological and environmental science projects for community service credit, and of course, will help maintain our walking trails.
In addition to providing housing for the organization's land steward, the Armstrong house is to be an educational, private facility prototyping a 'green' living lifestyle to promote the recognition that land preservation, natural resources protection and habitat conservation are possible through a combination of outright land protection and lifestyle choices. The off-the-grid residence will demonstrate that a smaller ecological footprint is possible without having to 'give-up' the benefits of modern 21stcentury living. Research into programming options and funding sources are underway. Private family foundations, New York State Conservation Partnership Program and the Preservation League of New York State and the National Historic Trust have expressed interest in supporting this endeavor.
Lastly, it is the mission of the Armstrong House to demonstrate how an existing, historic structure can be preserved while introducing a successful program of alternative technologies to 'power' an off-the-grid residence. Preserving the 'historic viewshed' of the property and structure, while not increasing the human footprint impacts, can be vital to protecting the integrity of the surrounding open space.
Hundreds of hours of volunteer time have supplemented our small construction crew and sub-contractors who have deeply discounted their rates and materials to make this project a reality. High school students from both John Jay and Fox Lane High Schools have earned many hours of community service working at the job site and AP Environmental Classes from both schools have been conducting research into alternative energy systems and other projects that will benefit this 'green' community resource, including gray water recycling, biogas generation and use, and wind and solar power.