Thanks to a conservation easement, the Barnes Foundation estate in Chester County has been protected from future development, even if it’s sold, writes Stephan Salisbury for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The 137-acre Ker-Feal in West Pikeland Township was used as a country retreat by art collector Albert C. Barnes before the foundation took over after his death.

The foundation has no plans to sell the property. It has teamed up with Natural Lands to work out an arrangement for the subdivision of the estate into four permanently protected parcels.

According to Thomas Collins, head of the Barnes Foundation, the purpose of the easement was to “preserve the open space and rural character of Ker-Feal in perpetuity.”

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A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a land trust and the landowner. It permanently limits options for the land’s use to protect it.

Natural Lands and the Barnes Foundation applied to West Pikeland in October for permission to subdivide the estate into the four parcels. The agreement also covers the Horse-Shoe Trail that runs through Ker-Feal.

“This has been in the works for a very long time,” said Jim Wendelgass, West Pikeland Township’s manager.

Read more about Ker-Feal in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

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