In December of 2006, Cynthia Hayes and John Trachy donated a conservation easement on their 266.92-acre property. The easement includes the 200 year old historic home and surrounding 13.92-acre homestead area. The property includes the headwaters of Baptist Pond, which flow into Lake Sunapee and also the headwaters of the north branch of the Sugar River. The land is mostly forested with habitat for a variety of native wildlife. The Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG) passes through the property on Deer Hill Road and is visible to snowmobile riders on NH Primary Trail #151. The land is open to the public, providing opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and nature observation.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests holds an executory interest in the conservation easement.

(The following was written 12/06 by easement donors Cynthia Hayes and her husband John Trachy.)

Our Lake Sunapee area has many unique and special places that offer solitude, reflection, recreation and stimulation. Some we have driven by countless times, others remain hidden and await discovery. Perhaps Robert Frost grasped something fundamental as he wrote of the roads less traveled - something that we need to be a content person.

When walking about our fields and woods I wonder what drew earlier residents to settle and live here on Deer Hill Farm in Springfield. From clearing the trees to constructing the shelters and stone walls they left clues for us to piece together. Their use of the land to extract a living in the 19th century differed from that of summer residences in the 20th century and my vision of sustainable forestry and hobby farming now. Regardless, the land endures and I have come to realize that we are but the stewards. As one travels about our region the effects of development and subdivision are readily apparent - more roads, houses and businesses, but less open land for wildlife and future residents. The answer for us is to conserve the land "in perpetuity" (whatever that means) and encourage others to do the same.

It will soon be fifty years since I first set foot on Deer Hill Farm and the thrill has not diminished. A child’s eye saw much, but did not grasp the inherent beauty. My parents, Donald and Rosamond Hayes, grew to love this special place and impressed upon me and my siblings the desire to protect and preserve it for others to enjoy. Now when my husband John and I walk through the beech and spruce forests and around the pond, see tracks on the snow and wildflowers in the fields, we know that we have done what we can so that others can enjoy it - in perpetuity.

In August of 2019, the property was conveyed by Cynthia Hayes to the Deer Hill Trust.