The Ruins Revamp: Revitalizing Rye History
Crested at the top of our driveway is the remains of a foundation that is integral to the history of the Rye Nature Center — The Parson’s Estate Ruins. Built in the beginning of the 20th century and left in ruin after a ‘mysterious’ fire in 1942, the land that this home presided over would soon become a large portion of the 47 acres that make up our forest. So, not only do these ruins provide our park with a unique feature that allows visitors to look directly into Rye’s past, but the Nature Center itself may not exist as we know it today if the Parsons hadn’t chosen to build their house on this land.
As our staff and board continue finding new ways to maintain and improve the park, 2025 felt like a great time to focus on revamping the remains of this historic home. Accessibility of these stone ruins has varied over the years; if you visit today, you can gaze at the massive structure from a safe distance. While the walls and chimneys that make up these ruins have lasted for over a hundred years, the structure is not quite stable enough to allow visitors to explore inside. This issue has also prevented our conservation team from clearing out invasive plants like English Ivy and Wineberry. That was until we began implementing new techniques.
The most buzz-worthy strategy for cleaning up our ruins was the introduction of a herd of goats. These goats utilized the ruins like a mess hall until nearly all the invasive plant matter was fully munched up. Whatever was left over was swiftly taken care of by the combined efforts of our conservation team, volunteer groups, as well as some contracted professionals to deal with the more precariously situated ivy vines climbing up the structure.
With the Parsons’ Estate cleared of all overgrowth, our staff was left wondering what to do with this new blank canvas. One clear solution was to utilize the space of the invasive plants that were uprooted thanks to our goat friends and replace it with some more aesthetically pleasing native plants. Even more will be added this spring, but in the meantime to further elevate the space, we decided to decorate the ruins for the winter season! If you are looking for a quick outdoor activity on your way home from work or school, feel free to drop by and check out the new lighting! Here’s a sneak preview of the lit-up ruins at night (which is really just four PM these days).
If the history of the Parsons’ Estate and how it is entangled in the Rye Nature Center’s development piqued your interest, please feel free to read our past Nature News Article The History of the Parsons Ruins for more information!