Friends of Brandywine Farms is a public benefit organization protecting historic farmland in Pennsylvania from high density residential and commercial development with a particular focus in Chester County.

We are a 100% volunteer not-for-profit organization that depends on donations to provide legal defense to communities and townships preserving their farmlands and assist in raising funds to acquire and conserve their lands.

Our first major initiative is to stop the Toll Brothers development of 119 acres of farmland at 500 Hibernia Road in West Brandywine Township, originally settled in 1744 and at one time belonging to Samuel Downing, the namesake of Downingtown.

In addition to its rich history, this land contains a stream that connects to the Brandywine River water supply, and the proposed development of 242 senior homes would exacerbate an overstretched EMS system. There are already over 2500 55+ homes and housing units within a 5 mile radius, and no local hospital after the closing of Brandywine Hospital in 2021. Furthermore, this proposed development is at the corner of two rural roads (Hibernia and Manor) that have already experienced a significant increase in traffic from nearby developments and were not designed to support the ALS and EMS services a high density 55+ development would require.