Gifford Road Farm, painting by Clifford W. Ashley

WHS 2012.024.001

This painting by noted artist and author Clifford W. Ashley captures a Westport farming scene in the 1930’s. The farm, owned by the Benoit family, was located on Gifford Road, north of the Ferry farm.

According to Vivian Benoit Coutinho, Clifford Ashley discovered the farm by chance:

“he would come every morning, same time. Stay for a couple hours, get the light the way he wanted it to. And then he’d be gone.”

The painting shows the uneven, hilly ground that is still visible along Gifford Road. Stone walls border the farm, enclosing a green barn and horse drawn wagon. A few chickens can be seen in the foreground. According to Vivian Coutinho, the silo was “artistic license”
added by Ashley.

Learn more about this farm’s story:

Interview with Vivian Coutinho about the painting by Clifford Ashley June 2025

My name is Vivian Benoit Coutinho.

This was my grandfather’s farm.

He had bought 34 acres.

And he had a couple of cows and that was his horse.

When he would come back from Fall river from delivering his milk he would go in the back, he

had a big barrel on the wagon.

And in the back of the farm, there was a

real good well, and he would fill it up with

water and he would bring it back to the house.

Now, the silo wasn’t on there when he (Clifford Ashley)

painted, I guess he used artistic license.

I visited when I was a kid.

My brothers hated to stay there because he had no

electricity, you know, and they had to be in bed.

You couldn’t go out and play in his yard because

he was always afraid you’re going to get hurt.

So we would sit in the living

room on a horse hair covered couch.

We were little girls, we had little

short dresses and it was horrible.

Picky, picky, picky.

But after he would talk with my father for

a while and because they would talk French, because

we didn’t keep up with French, the kids didn’t.

So he would. After a while, we knew when he got

up, he was either going to get us an Oreo, a

very soft old Oreo, or a piece of hard candy.

And he would give that to us because we sat quietly.

When you get to Ferry’s farm, the house after

the Ferry farm, the gray one, on a hill on the left side. As you’re going north.

My Uncle Wilfred bought that house.

And my grandfather was very angry at him

because he didn’t know my uncle had money.

But do you remember, you’ve got history on Mrs. Little.

My uncle would go down and two of my

aunts would go down and they’d work for Mrs.

Little, they’d clean her house, and my uncle would

do work around the house and he’d get paid

and then they would go back to the farm.

And of course my grandfather knew that they

were down there working, so he’d have his

hand out, and he wanted their money.

And when Mrs. Little found out that he was taking the money, she told

the girls and my uncle to keep so much aside.

And so my Uncle Wilf had enough

to buy that house, next to Ferries.

My grandfather bought it from a Sherman.
So that’s the silo. Yes.

This is the barn? Yes.

I have no idea what that is because we could

never go outside and play, so we never really.

We knew the building was there.

This is the house, right?

And, of course, that big walnut tree in the

front, I think, in front of the house?

It’s in front of the house. See?

So he didn’t get that.

No, no.

But, yeah, he (Clifford Ashley) just was on Gifford Road.

And like my aunt would say,

come every morning, same time.

This is Clifford Ashley. Yeah.

Stay for a couple hours, get the light

the way he wanted it to, and.

And then he’d be gone.

He would just stay a couple hours.

One of the children was Loretta.

And she just died a couple.

A few years ago at 108 years old.

So they had nine children

Six uncles, Three aunts.

And they all grew up there, but they all

left home early, like they were 14, 15.

And they went into the city.

I had a couple uncles that

worked on the Providence Journal.

They were writers or news gatherers, I guess.

And, Loretta worked in the cotton

mills along with her sister.

And I think they moved out of there in 1950.

I know I moved.

54, 1953, I think they moved.

My grandfather had to sell it because.

Because he sold it to Ferry.

Because Mr. Ferry kept buying, because my grandfather needed money.

Mr. Ferry kept buying pieces, you know, pieces of the

farm, until in the end, there was only like,

maybe 2 acres of all land, including the building.