By Jim Nolan
Journal & Press
Many area residents and people from all over the country have ventured to “the bookstore almost nobody can find.” Situated on a back road off a back road, the Owl Pen is about 7 miles north of the Village of Greenwich and about a mile straight up from Cossayuna Lake. The proprietors Hank and Edie are well known to most people in this neck of the woods. Perhaps you would like to know how it got there.
In 1944 Barbara Probst, a 27 year old editorial assistant at Mademoiselle magazine, left her apartment in New York City to spend two weeks with friends in the little Washington County town of Argyle. While exploring the backroads of Washington County, her car radiator overheated in front of a rundown farmhouse.
Since this overheating problem had happened before, she carried a pitcher in her car in order to get water and refill the radiator. Barbara approached the abandoned farmhouse and discovered it had been partially enveloped by wild raspberries, burdock, and sumac. What she could see of the house revealed broken windows and sagging doors.
She walked into a meadow and found a spring. As she returned to the car, she turned around and decided this is where she would start a new life. For Barbara Probst, it was as simple as that. She found the owner and with $1,000 in war bonds she bought the house, outbuildings, and 12 acres of land.
In the first summer, with the help of friends, she rebuilt what had once been hog quarters. Another dilapidated building on the grounds surrendered its weathered boards for interior walls. Cobblestones from a collapsed and overrun fence were used to build a fireplace. The little building became her home that summer.
The problem of earning a living resolved itself when she read a few books on farming, hired herself out as a migrant worker and picked potatoes for local farmers. She also picked apples. A short time later, Barbara started an egg business after purchasing six hens. She read books on chickens and her egg business grew and thrived. She added sheep and pigs to her farm. She continued to repair the main house in her “free” time and eventually moved into it.
After sixteen years, in 1960 Barbara decided to start Owl Pen Books with over 1200 books she purchased for $25 from an estate. She started using the renovated hog quarters as her bookstore. Soon, she found herself spending more time with the books than with the animals. Little by little, she sold the animals.
Barbara bought more books, sold them, and bought more. Gradually, the book inventory grew to over 40,000 books. By then she had converted the chicken barn into a bookstore. She also acquired some rare books, mostly on New York State history. In addition, she started a year round search service.
Somehow she found time to manage the bookstore at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. It was there that Skidmore Professor of Botany and Ecology, Hank Howard, first met her. In 1980, Hank and his wife Edie Brown visited Owl Pen. While checking out, Barbara mentioned she was getting tired of the daily grind of owning such a large bookstore. On his way out, Hank said, “If you ever consider selling, let us know.” This was pre-internet, but Hank and Edie had been running a mail order bookstore out of their home in Galway for over two years.
It took a while, but eventually Barbara contacted Hank and Edie and they came to terms on a sale of the house, the bookstore, and the 12 acres. They moved in and took over operation of Owl Pen. Hank joined Edie fulltime in the bookstore two years later when he retired early from Skidmore. Together they sold books and traveled throughout the United States purchasing collections of books.
Over the years, Edie said, “They added pieces of land to the original 12 acres as the land became available.” Today, the property comprises 100 acres, most of which is conserved. The house was so well renovated by Barbara that it stands pretty much the way it was when they bought it in 1980. The house is over 200 years old.
Articles about Owl Pen have appeared in the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Adirondack Life. These articles brought many out of town visitors to the bookstore. More than one area resident has been asked, “Can you tell me how to get to the Owl Pen Bookstore?”
Hank died last year at the age of 92. Edie has decided to put the house and bookstore on the market. She is determined to find a buyer who wants to continue operating the bookstore. Interest has been brisk and soon Owl Pen Books may have a new owner who will carry on the tradition started by Barbara Probst and carried on by Hank Howard and Edie Brown.
On a personal note, I frequently have visited Owl Pen, looking for local and New York State history books. One winter (Owl Pen is closed in the winter months), I visited an online book vendor that carries these types of books. I ordered a book and expected it to be delivered in about a week. Later that day, I received a call from Edie Brown asking if she could bring the book over to my house and save me the cost of postage! It turns out Owl Pen also lists selected parts of their collection on this online bookseller’s web site. Now that is service!
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