The plaque is very brief. All it tells us, is that The Countess Margit Bessenyey donated Westwind Barn to the Town in 1975 – but behind this hides a colorful history The start of what we know today as Westwind Community Barn dates back to the 1940's when Frank Ellithorpe built the first six stalls where he raised Morgan and Arabian horses. He sold the land in 1965 to Robert Clement who added another 17 stalls, a tack room and an arena. In 1971 the Barn was purchased by the Countess Margit Bessenyey, who wanted it to serve as a California center for the training, showing, and selling of the Hungarian horses bred on the family property in Hamilton, Montana. Aerial View of the Barn around the time it was donated. Margit was born in Budapest. Her father was a Hungarian Count who also headed the Monarchist Party, which tried to restore the Monarchy in Hungary during World War II. As a result he was interned in Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother was the daughter of Copper King Marcus Daly, who also owned a large stock farm in Montana. During the war, Margit served as an interpreter and a leader of resistance efforts against the Nazi invader. At the same time she also provided protection for some of the famous Lippizaner stallions which had been rescued from Austria during the Nazi occupation. After the war she came to the United States where she continued to help Hungarians, now fleeing from the Russian occupation. In 1958 she married Baron B. Bessenyey, a retired Hungarian diplomat who had been Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, but who unfortunately died a year later. She redirected her efforts to her Montana stud farm where she raised Hungarian thoroughbred horses. This breed was used in Europe for hunting, jumping, cross country, pleasure riding and the cavalry. Assisted by the well-known horse woman, Linda Tellington-Jones, they moved the nationally known Pacific Coast School of Horsemanship to Los Altos Hills from Badger, California, and combined the training of Hungarian horses with the professional education of horsemen. The Pacific Coast School grew — drawing students from all over the country as well as from Europe. The Countess added a third wing to the barn and other elegant touches, which included the ornate double oak door entry (carved in Mexico) and the elaborate spiral stairway (imported from France). A full-sized dressage ring was built and a difficult cross country course was added to the growing complex. In 1975 she made a gift to the Town of the 24,000 square foot Barn and just over 13 acres. This triggered over a year of wrangling by the Town Council as to what to do with this gift. Running it as a commercial entity would have violated Town zoning codes besides not fitting with the Town’s charter. But the idea of selling it off for development also met with vigorous opposition. Westwind Barn.as seen from Byrne Preserve Logo After more than a year of argument over the best use of the Barn, the Town Council accepted a proposal from the Friends of Westwind to lease the barn as a non-profit cooperative stabling facility, leading to the formation of Friends of Westwind, Inc. However, one of the conditions imposed by the Council was that the Barn also serve some wider purpose for the general community beyond mere stabling of horses for their owners. Accordingly, in 1978, a therapeutic horse riding program for handicapped children was established. Under the supervision of Jim Forderer (who formerly had worked as a trainer for the Countess) the Westwind 4-H Riding for the Handicapped began operating with classes offered twice weekly in the afternoons. Jim Forderer, founding Instructor for the program, together with three of his adopted children and Bernice Hogan, (behind), an early volunteer who provided her horse for use in the program The program started with volunteers trailering in their own horses for the children to ride, but this soon proved too high a burden and it was decided the program should have its own horses to be kept in a separate small barn on the property. In 1980 funds were raised from local foundations and residents who also donated labor and materials. Preferring that this smaller barn match the main barn, the Town Council directed the Town Crew to build it with the funds raised. The barn was named in honor of Frank Duveneck’s late wife Josephine, and Mr Duveneck cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony later that year. This year (2018) the program is celebrating its 40th anniversary – during which time, hundreds of children with various kinds of disabilities have been served. Thousands of volunteers have given countless hours, many of them high school students fulfilling community service requirements. In 2006 the Town decided to change operation of the Barn to a more sustainable business model so that it would require less operating subsidy from the Town and at the same time assume a greater role as a community asset. During this re-organization, the opportunity was also taken for major refurbishment of the facilities (including extensive seismic retro-fitting and “green” sustainability enhancements) Today (2018) Westwind Community Barn is run under the professional management of Victoria Dye Equestrian and many of you may have met “Torie” (as she is known) if you have visited the Barn. In addition to providing riding lessons to the public and stabling facilities for horse owners, the Barn works through the Town’s Park and Rec Department to provide various summer camps for children, and other community-wide events such as Earth Day , the Annual Town Fun Run, Hoedown, and Barn Lighting. In addition, the Barn still hosts the Handicapped Riding Program, now in its 40th year since inception - originally as a condition to allow Westwind Barn to be kept as a community facility. Countess Margit Bessenyey passed in 1984. We feel she would be well pleased if she could see what has become of her gift to our Town.