Hardwoods & Honey History

A little farm with a long history, starting in 1872.

In the beginning...

In 1872 Magnus and Sarah Lundell settled over 300 acres of Spring Garden farmland for their family homestead (now just outside of Cannon Falls Township). They built the original home just a few miles down the road, where Lundell decedents live today.

1872 Peter A Berg

In 1872 Peter A Berg purchased a 160 acre portion of the Lundell homestead, and built a family farm in section 35 of Spring Garden, Goodhue County.

An 1877 plat map shows the property has been subdivided and Peter A Berg owned 120 acres, while 40 acres has been sectioned off and sold to the Sjolander family.
This is when it became known as the
"Old Berg Homestead."

1900 CJ Anderson

In 1900 Peter A Berg retired, and purchased the 40 acres of C. Sjolander's corner to retire next to the farm, with his wife. The farm is sold to his neighbor C.J. Anderson.

Anderson farmed the land for a brief 7 years, renting out the house to new families and couples looking to make a start in the area.

In 1907 Anderson puts his property and the Berg Farm up for sale or rent.

1907 JP Lundell

In 1907 John Peter Lundell (son of Magnus Lundell), recently married to Ellen Swanson (neighbor to Berg) purchased the 120 acres.

1915 Berg Obituary

1916 JP&E Lundell

John Peter and Ellen Lundell purchased the corner lot from Peter Berg’s family after his death, making the 160 acres together once more. The fact that the wife is listed on the plat map shows the level of respect and love JP had for Ellen.

1925 Country School

With a belief that education makes a difference in the lives of American children, JP and Ellen donated a half acre of their land to build a one-room schoolhouse. This school house still stands today, and has been remodeled into a home, and the land sectioned off to make it farmable.

1931-1933
Clarence C Lundell

In 1931 John Peter Lundell's probate is filed after his death in late1930. The Widow Ellen Lundell died in December of 1935 and the property transferred to their youngest son, Clarence Carl Lundell 1892-1962 m. Frances Rosella Hagman 1899-1981.

Cousin Leslie Lundell buys the Swanson property next door.

1954
School House Retired

With the continued build out and expansion of the Cannon Falls public school, in town, the need for far flung, one room schoolhouse was coming to an end. In the next plat map of the homestead, the school is no longer listed, and the land is once again whole. The building, however, remained.

1962
Leland Barton Stanchan, Sr.

In 1962 Clarence Carl Lundell dies, leaving behind wife Rosella. She eventually sold the land to Leland Barton Strachan Sr. 1919-1997 m. Helen Constance Sita 1924-2021,

Rosella passes in 1981.

Twin Cities Super Storm lasted from July 24 to July 25 in 1987

From 1980-1987 a barn is pictured in areal photos of the farm in the Northeastern corner of the home lot.
In 1987 there were a series of tornados in the Twin Cities area, showing that large storms were prevalent that year.
Perhaps the barn took enough damage it was finally time to retire it.

1999-present - Home Sweet Home

Leland Barton Strachan Sr. passes in 1997, and in 1999 20 acres of the land, containing the original home, well, western woods, and the eastern pasture and woods were sectioned off and sold as family property. Later, the house and surrounding 5.2 acres was sold to a new family, and then to us.

The surrounding farmland becomes a holding of N&L LLC (Timothy Neilson and Leslie Lundell) and is farmed under to this day, by a local farmer just down the road.

While the farmhouse has seen families come and go for over 150 years, it has always been filled with love, Christian values, and the laughter of children and friends.

We look forward to honoring these memories as we restore the home to its former, Edwardian-era glory, refinishing and keeping the original woodwork, flooring, hardware, cellar, and floor plan in place.

If you know more about the history of this farm, have photographs from different eras, and would like to share your knowledge of the history, please reach out to us so we can continue to restore the home to its original condition.

All information on this page is from our research at the Cannon Falls Library History section, The Cannon Falls Historical Society, FamilySearch.org records, Newspapers.com, and FindAGrave. We also offer genealogical research services. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about your family tree or property history.

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