Ahhhh, the fresh mountain air. The tranquil views. A healthful outdoor lifestyle. Available for $3.35 million via Story Jenks, Dia Jenks, and Ruth Kennedy Sudduth at LandVest, this picturesque rural spread offers it all. And with Zoom and high-speed internet, who needs to ever go back to the office?
Lying just west of Woodstock, the farm sits in possibly the quintessential Vermont village. Arranged around a public green, Woodstock was once called “The prettiest small town in America” by Ladies Home Journal magazine. On 91 acres, there’s a renovated 19th-century farmhouse, a big red horse barn, and several more outbuildings. Bridle and walking trails, meadows, ponds, gardens, and old stone walls make for and especially charming setting.
The farm was once part of a larger establishment, which spanned thousands of acres and was owned by the Robinson family, who are well-known in Vermont. Over time, the land was split up and passed down through each generation. The 1850 farmhouse was once owned by “Jumbo” Robinson, who could lift and carry two heavy dairy cans down the hill to be picked up by the milk truck every day. When full, these cans would have weighed 88 pounds apiece. Jumbo’s cans still exist; they’re in a little corn crib by the original cider press.
On the premises are a variety of fruit trees: plum, pear, and, of course, apple. Back in the day, most Vermont farms grew apples to press into cider, which was sometimes left to turn into vinegar (important for pickling and preserving food). Even the religious Shakers who made their home in Vermont made and drank hard cider. They described how to make it in 1830, in a local newspaper called Working-Man’s Gazette: “The process in making and refining cider in order to have it good and wholesome, is so simple (though important) that many people entirely overlook it, supposing the mystery so deep, as to be entirely out of their reach…” In the nineteenth century, it wasn’t easy to tell how pure the local water was for drinking, but cider was fine. And probably more fun!
The three-stall barn is heated, except for the hayloft, and the 72’ x 150’ indoor arena is perfect for exercising horses in lousy weather. There are also outdoor rings and run-in sheds, one made from an old sugaring shed (for maple syrup), while the barn includes an office with high-speed internet that makes it perfect for a remote worker.
For the farm’s human residents, the circa 1850 house has been thoughtfully renovated. Antique wide-board pine floors run throughout the three-bedroom house, and each of the three bathrooms feature Vermont marble countertops. The enormous kitchen’s wall of windows looks out to the yard, while off that is a dining area dominated by a huge double-sided brick fireplace shared with a cozy sitting area. In the basement is a 750-bottle wine cellar, for when the owner wants something other than cider. And if that’s not quite enough space there is plenty of room to expand over the garage.
Back outdoors, riding, skiing, mountain biking, swimming are all at the doorstep. Add to that the farm’s mature perennial gardens, fenced vegetable garden, two ponds — one for swimming, the other for the horses — and the ability to renovate the original cider press and press one’s own cider. Yep. Tell the office you’re permanently remote.
