Brightwaters Farms has been in existence since the late 1600's. The farmland was purchased from the King of England by the Phelps family, the farms original founders. The farm at that time consisted of thousands of beautiful undeveloped acres, some wooded, some cultivated, as well as grazing fields for the cows, sheep, and others animals that were raised on the farm.
In 1907, the Phelps Family sold portions of the land to T.B. Ackerson who then developed the Brightwaters Farm section of Bay Shore. After that the Farm was reduced in size, the remaining 750 acres of farmland was then sold in small pieces. In 1938 after his return from the war, Paul DeFere of Bayshore purchased 50 plus acres from T. B. Ackerson. Paul continued the Phelps farming traditions and worked the land until his death in 1984. Just prior to his death however, he sold the building and development rights to the Suffolk County Farmland Preservation Committee leaving the farmlands protected from future building and development.
After Paul's death, his wife Edith took over the farm but cultivated less than 15 acres of the land leaving much of it unused. The farm was revived and brought to new life in 1995 when Anthony and Robin Quintal started to cultivate and grow crops working side by side with Edith DeFere. In 1997 the Quintal's purchased the farm where Edith stayed on for a four-year transition until leaving in 2001.
The Quintal Family expanded Brightwaters Farms with the purchase of an old rundown dairy farm in Delaware County's Masonville NY in 2006. The Quintal family, spent numerous years restoring all of the buildings/barns and reclaimed all of the fallow hay fields. The Masonville farm is now today what it was when the Willis Family, the original farm owners from the 1700's, the PRIDE of Masonville.
In the Fall of 2014 with the opportunity to purchase a bankrupt farm/greenhouse operation in Oneida County's Utica NY, The Quintal Family closed the deal in Spring 2015. The facility, the former C.F. Baker and Sons operation was founded in 1923. The facility, one of the largest in the Northeast, a site of more than 60 acres consisting of 750,000 plus sq. ft. of state of the art greenhouses with another 250,000 plus sq. ft. of supporting buildings and acres of open cultivation fields. The facility is currently growing vegetables, plants & shrubs and the growing programs are being expanded upon daily.
Today, the Quintal Family continues to manage the daily operations of the farms and carry on the proud legacy's that they each have. With Anthony his wife Robin and three sons Anthony the 3rd, Barry and Michael, The Quintal family intends to continue the tradition of farming for many years to come.