The Hovatters

The Early Years

The four Hovatter boys grew up in Arlington, VA while attending Jamestown Elementary School, Williamsburg Junior High and Yorktown Senior High schools.  The family worked the farm in Loudoun County on weekends, holidays and all summer vacations.

The early morning car drive to the farm was 32 miles west on a country highway, Rt. 50. There were few cars and fewer stop lights. The last 3 miles, the old dirt road, was where the boys learned to drive a car at a very early age. 

The Old Farm Road

Route 705 didn't even have an official name.  We called it Catharpin Road.  With bareley enough room for two vehicles to pass, you always knew your neighbor as you approached; often stopping for a chat about the weather, your crops or the upcoming seasonal changes.

Any accumulation of snow made the road impassible for days or even weeks as these old county roads were low priority compared  to routes. 50 and 15

The nearest grocery store was in a sleepy little town named Leesburg to the north on Rt. 15.

Dulles Airport would not open until 1962.

We picked up our mail at the Aldie Post Office up until 1992 when rural delivery finally started.

The Aldie Country Store

Great pulled pork sandwiches, barbecue ribs and a cold grape Nehi soda could always be found at the historic Aldie Store.  

The Hovatters - 1994

A third generation of Hovatters begins with the creation of Matlar Farm on 34 acres nearby on Braddock Road; now the location of Willard Middle School.

Vacation Harvest Time
 1994 - 2014

For the next 20 years, the Hovatter brothers gathered at the farm every Spring.  We came home to Aldie, VA  from our regular jobs to 
"take in one more harvest".

An Air Force pilot from Shalymar, FL, an Apple software developer from Zephyr Cove, NV and a home rebuilder from Catawba, VA, all became farmers once again each spring .  It was time to get together with family and local friends for our tradtition of hay farming.   

In good weather, the hay harvest could be completed in 2-3 weeks during May-June.
Second and third cuts would come later in good years of high rainfall.

With the hay in the barn, the equipment cleaned and put away...it was high fives all around :"see you next year Bro".It's was just in our blood to return year after year.