Rebuild the Spider Web Farm

For forty years, my parents, Will and Terry Knight, have run the Spider Web Farm in Williamstown, Vermont.  On Tuesday, October 25, 2016, a fire destroyed the barn that housed their workshop and gift store, and two outbuildings.  No spiders, humans, or cats were injured in the blaze.  Thank you to the Firefighters from Williamstown, Northfield, Barre Town, and other surrounding communities who put out the fire and kept it from spreading to the house or other buildings, including the shed where the spiders live. 

Interview with Will Knight after the fire

Many people have asked how they can help the Spider Web Farm rise from the ashes.  The outpouring of support is touching, and deeply appreciated by all of us who have called the Farm home.  We do not know yet what my parents total expenses will be.  The barn was not insured.  It is with great humility and the deepest gratitude towards our friends and supporters that I have setup this GoFundMe site to allow financial contributions to assist in rebuilding the Spider Web Farm. 

Financial donations will be used for:

Demo and clean-up of the wreckage

Building a new gift shop

Those of you who live locally to my parents may prefer to help them with services or gifts of your time.   Please contact my parents or brother Willy to find out what they need.  Your help is so wonderfully generous and greatly appreciated.   

Thank you to everyone for your support of my parents in their time of need.  With your help, the Spider Web Farm will persevere. 

With deepest gratitude,

Maryanne Knight,
Daughter of Will and Terry Knight,
owners of the Spider Web Farm

 

What is the Spider Web Farm?

My parents, Will and Terry Knight, bought the Spider Web Farm in 1970.  At the time, it was just another old farmhouse with a red barn, at the end of a dead-end road on the edge of a small Vermont village.  Ever the creative types, Will turned the main floor of the barn into a work shop for his woodworking hobby and opened a small gift store in the basement to sell the lap desks, jewelry boxes, and other cabinetry he made.  Terry hand-lined drawers and painted flowers on the finished pieces. 

Terry began experimenting with using spider webs to augment her painting in the mid-70s.  Will was inspired, and took on the art of collecting webs with a passion and joy that lasts to this day.  A feature in Yankee Magazine in 1978 introduced the world to the Spider Web Farm, and the unique nature of their art has drawn media attention regularly throughout the years.  Visitors from around the world and throughout the U.S. are treated to a live demo of the collection of a web, and entertained by master storyteller Will.  The Farm has hosted tour buses, school field trips, RV and motorcycle clubs. Recent years have seen a flock of Millennials, drawn to the Farm’s quirky charm.