Better than a Block Party

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul

Marilyn Johnson’s long career in the Foreign Service brought her to far-flung places around the world. But it was in her family’s home on Lewis Hill Road in Bethlehem that she chose to settle upon her retirement in 1987, drawn back by family ties and the natural beauty of the place. It was, likewise, the mountain vistas and pastoral landscape of Lewis Hill Road that drew Chris Rogers to purchase a second home nearby in 2009 and Jim Schwartz and his wife Ann Hochschild to do the same in 2012.

And it was the natural beauty and a deep love of place that inspired the neighbors to band together to purchase and protect 241 acres stretching between Lewis Hill Road and state Route 142, creating the Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve. While each neighbor owns a portion of the property, they have all donated conservation easements to the Forest Society, creating a continuous block of protected land.

“Marilyn wanted the area across from her house, and Jim wanted the part he could see from his house, so I was happy to take the part that had the ridge and views,” said Rogers. “I have always considered it one piece of conservation property.”

The ridge with views of mounts Agassiz, Cleveland, Garfield, and Lafayette is fitting for Rogers. A mechanical engineering professor at Tufts University, he has been coming north with his family to hike the White Mountains for many years. Schwartz, a science writer, and Hochschild, a geneticist who teaches at Harvard Medical School, likewise came to love the area for its dramatic hikes and spectacular scenery.

In 2012 Schwartz and Hochschild purchased the Gowdy house – a former residence of famed sports commentator Curt Gowdy and his family – and the surrounding 150 acres, across the road from what would become the Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve (on property that had also been owned by the Gowdys).

“We were looking for a place to buy and just happened upon Lewis Hill Road, which is remarkably beautiful,” Schwartz said. “We became fast friends with Marilyn. She’s sort of the mayor of Lewis Hill Road. Everybody knows her.”

Johnson’s ties to Lewis Hill Road run deep – all the way back to 1857, when her great-grandparents (one a Johnson, one a Clark) purchased the home where she now lives. Her great-grandfather ran a coach line between two grand hotels: the Profile House in Franconia Notch and the Crawford House in Crawford Notch. The coaches would change horses along the way at the Bethlehem property.

Although she grew up on the South Shore of Boston, Johnson and her family spent summers in the old house, making repairs and enjoying the beauty of Bethlehem. After graduating from Radcliff College in 1944, in the midst of World War II, Marilyn went through Midshipmen’s School at Smith College, then worked in Naval security in Washington, D.C. Following the war, she earned a master’s degree in French from Middlebury College, secured Fulbright and Smith-Mundt grants to teach abroad, and eventually embarked on a Foreign Service career during which she lived in Russia and French West Africa, including three years as U.S. Ambassador to Togo.

But it was Bethlehem that drew her home. She has long been a steward of the land in her neighborhood, the town, and beyond. She lobbied to have Lewis Hill designated as a town Scenic Road several years ago, and she has served on the Bethlehem Conservation Commission and the Ammonoosuc River Local Advisory Committee for many years. She is also a longstanding member of the town’s Bretzfelder Park Committee, which works with the Forest Society to manage the park.

“My roots were here. I had family here,” said Johnson, now 92 years old. “It was just coming back to where my origins were, the house where my father had been born, and trying to improve the house and the land. That’s what I’m still trying to do.”

As part of that effort, she has purchased nearby land as it has become available. Much of the surrounding property was once in her family, but had been sold over the years. In 2007, she donated a 103-acre conservation easement to the Forest Society. That property is across Lewis Hill Road from the new easement and stretches to adjacent South Road.

Her motivation in the neighborly effort to create the Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve is two-fold: “It’s mainly to keep open space here for people to enjoy skiing and hiking, and it’s a continuation of the wildlife corridor from The Rocks Estate.”

The Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve is close to the Forest Society’s Rocks Estate on the western border and the White Mountain National Forest on the eastern side.

“The fields, edges, rock outcrops and wetlands all contribute to the forests that predominate the property. There is a good mix of hardwood and softwood stands, providing both forage and shelter,” said Ryan Young, strategic projects manager for the Forest Society. “I’ve seen tracks of turkey, moose, and bobcat on the property, and it supports a variety of other wildlife species, including whitetail deer and bear.”

The Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve also includes about three miles of trails for hiking and cross-country skiing. The neighbors have had a forest stewardship plan completed, with an eye toward further trail development and preserving wildlife habitat. They’d also love to see the Johnson-Clark Nature Reserve become part of a wider conservation block, one that could stretch from The Rocks to Lewis Hill Road and across Route 142 to the White Mountain National Forest.

“It’s a beautiful piece of land,” says Rogers. “Connecting The Rocks to the White Mountain National Forest someday would be awesome.”