Ambler Farm is still planning on making hay in the coming year, even if the shining sun is being blotted out by a cloudy economic forecast.

The farm and the town began a large bonding initiative in 2007 to restore the Raymond-Ambler House and make various improvements around the property. The $1 million project was to be split into two payments, both of $500,000, with one coming that year and another set for 2011.

Unfortunately, the second $500,000 installment is being delayed due to the tight constraints of Wilton's FY 2011 budget. Luckily for the Friends of Ambler Farm's board, they have been biding their funding carefully.

"We've been trying to backtrack and make the project fit into the town's budget process," said Ann Bell, the board's president, during her presentation to the Board of Selectmen last week. "We'd like to have a significant amount of work done before Ambler Farm Day because we'd like to use it as sort of a showcase."

According to Bell, Ambler currently has about $348,000 left of the town's initial $500,000 funding, plus an additional $250,000 from a state-funded STEAP grant. Bell believes that will be enough to carry the farm through the end of the year and finish most if not all of the second phase of the restoration project, which consists largely of structural stabilization.

"This phase is a critical phase because the roof leaks and is rotting interior beams, rotting the wood on the inside," Bell said. "It's vital to at least make the house secure and safe from further damage."

The Board of Selectmen gave Bell and Ambler Farm their unanimous approval to go ahead with the second phase of construction.

"Ambler Farm is being approved as we can afford it," said First Selectman Bill Brennan. "The work that's been done over the years has been consistent...and the use of it each year keeps building and building."

Wilton originally bought the historic farm in the late 1990s and had it designated as a non-profit to be used for agriculture and educational purposes. Before then, it was a working agricultural site owned by one family from 1799-1998, when the last family member, Betty Ambler, passed away.

Bell said that once complete, the second phase of construction on the Raymond-Ambler House will have it looking "nice and new," completely repainted, with aesthetic repairs made to windows, the roof, chimneys and the house's inside foundation. So, although it will not be livable or usable inside, at least "it will be safe and secure from the elements and from the outside not like it looks today," she said.

She added that the farm is hoping to receive the next $500,000 installment from the town next year, so as to allow them to continue with the third construction phase, the interior restoration of the house. If and when that is finished, Ambler envisions using the house for a variety of purposes, including period rooms, office space and perhaps even living quarters to accommodate future interns.

For now the project, which Bell estimates will ultimately cost between $1.5 and $1.8 million, will continue with the remaining funding and with an eye toward finishing as soon as possible.

"Had we gotten the $500,000, I would have said [the project] will be done by December of 2011," Bell said. "Now...no."