With construction of the Intercounty Connector underway, the Willson family of Upper Montgomery County (web|news) is about to lose the farm it has called home for five generations.

Wednesday, Anne Willson will have to turn over the keys to her family's farmhouse on Layhill Road. The state of Maryland plans to bulldoze her property to make way for an ICC interchange.

"I hate to leave here; this has been my home for 48 years," said Willson. "You think that you're safe. You think that you own something all these years, but you don't really own it. They can come in and take it if they feel like putting a road through your house."

The family is packing up two houses and a landscaping business. Not to mention decades of memories.

The farm has been home to the Willson family since 1885. They've been fighting the ICC since it was proposed in the 1950s. Two years ago they Willsons learned of a change in the plan that would put the interchange where the farm now stands.

"You think it's not coming you put it in the back of your mind. It's not going to really happen, something will change," said Missy Willson, Anne's daughter. "They'll stop all of what's going to happen and the day has come now."

"My favorite dog is buried here, my favorite horse," said Frank Willson, Anne's son. "Every tree, everything has great meaning here."

Frank Wilson also lives on the property, and operates a landscaping  business based there.

"When I close that door it will be the saddest moment next to the death of my husband that i'll ever encounter in my life," said Anne Willson.

An ICC spokesperson said construction in the area won't begin until early 2009. The ICC is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

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