Hunter's Home

Location of Jaeger'sWoods - Click to Enlarge

Jaeger's Woods, a roughly triangle-shaped section of forest just north of the Fort has seen some major geological changes after the earthquakes that followed Yellowstone's eruption. The area was originally dotted with small springs that bubbled to the surface and kept the ground from freezing during the cold Connecticut winters. A dense woodland, whose trees benefited from the softer ground and nutrient-rich supply of springwater, grew atop the gently sloaping hill that marked the area's center. Many of those same water sources became hotsprings after the earthquakes.

It was there, at the hill's highest point, that the St. Francis Minor Seminary was established in 1918. Designed as a place where teenage boys interested in becoming priests could study in relative isolation,the Seminary failed to attract enough students to support its original purpose. In 1923, funding was cut by the Catholic Church and the Seminary became a respite for Priests who were unable to attend their duties due to health, legal issues (scandals), and those who simply wished to spend a few years in quiet, meditative study.The doors closed in 1975, leaving a series of solitary caretakers to maintain the structure until all funding was cut in 1980.

Hunter's Home - Click to Enlarge

Frank led Jaeger and his daughter Molly to the building on April 30th, 2010 when it became obvious they were not welcomed at the Fort. Having been abandoned for thirty years in an area with high moisture due to the many nearby springs, the trio found most of the wooden interior ruined, leaving only the granite outer walls and ceilings intact.

Despite the tremendous amount of work necessary to restore the place, Jaeger decided to settle down, citing the sturdy walls, relative isolation, and abundant hotsprings as reason enough. The building, whose name they never determined, was christened Hunter's Home.

The building itself consists of three interconnected sections; a four-story tower, a square structure with three floors, and the central one-and-a-half story rectangular space that connects the other two.