New England Journey
Hill Farm by Sagra debuted this fall following 10 years of renovations.
An 18th century farm in Vermont was reworked into an agritourism vacation spot the place vacationers can expertise a sustainable vegetable farm, hands-on lessons, and farm-to-table eating.
The house owners of Hill Farm Inn in Sunderland, nestled within the Equinox Mountain Valley in southern Vermont alongside the Battenkill River, teamed up with hospitality firm Sagra to create Hill Farm by Sagra, which opened on Sept. 23. A brand new restaurant, Grange at Hill Farm, is slated to open on Nov. 26.
“Hill Farm affords vacationers a beautiful alternative to attach with the agricultural historical past of Vermont whereas taking within the lovely views, climbing or fishing alongside the historic Battenkill river, and experiencing the close by city of Manchester,” stated David Rust, CEO of Sagra, in a press release. “We hope everybody leaves with a deeper connection to the land and the way our meals is grown.”
The property, which sits on 70 bucolic acres, started as a dairy farm in 1779 and began welcoming in a single day friends within the mid-1800s, in response to the corporate. Its present house owners, the Pollard household, have spent the final 10 years restoring and renovating the farm’s historic inn, cottages, and barns.
Visitors keep in 11 rooms within the inn and among the many 4 three- and four-bedroom non-public cottages on the property, that are all outfitted with kitchens. The rooms are a mix of recent and rustic, they usually’re designed with items sourced from native and sustainable artisans similar to Cieri Fabrication ceramics and Vermont Heritage Wool Firm.
Facilities embrace guidebooks, meals and farming books, and seeds for planting at dwelling.
Grange at Hill Farm will open in a brand new lofted barn with an open kitchen and wood-fired oven. It should change the property’s present on-site restaurant and be open to the general public. Visitors can sit at a chef’s counter overlooking the mountains and on a wrap-around patio with 360-degree views of the Equinox Mountain Valley and farm, in response to the corporate.
Native Vermonter Chef Austin Poulin, previously of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York and Albi in Washington, D.C., heads the culinary crew at Hill Farm by Sagra. Poulin creates wood-fired dishes “that encapsulate the encircling foodshed,” in response to the corporate.
Diners will expertise a-la-carte meals and beverage service and communal pre-fixe farm dinners month-to-month. The menu will change every day and have dishes similar to Fried Hen of the Woods with black garlic, lemon, and burnt baba, Studio Hill Farm Lamb with stuffed Tropea onion, celery leaf gremolata, zaatar, and pepperhini, and Entire Brook Trout with sprouting brassicas, tomato water, and rotating grain tabouli. There shall be a curated artisanal beverage menu.
Farm supervisor Nicole Duch, who has 15 years of farming expertise in New England, “brings new life” to Hill Farm’s soil utilizing regenerative practices and a market backyard.
“The brand new Hill Farm rotation of crops is essential to balancing vitamins within the floor and protecting the ecosystem wholesome,” in response to the corporate. “This consists of the appliance of compost and different pure amendments, ensuring heavy feeding crops, like tomatoes and cabbage, are adopted by lighter feeding crops, like lettuces and peas, and rising cowl crops whose function is to feed the soil.”
Visitors at Hill Farm by Sagra can select from many actions that join them to the land, together with farm excursions, culinary lessons, feeding the alpacas, harvesting actions, fly-fishing, climbing, pure dyeing, and yoga. They will additionally chill out on the property’s pool or round a fireplace pit.
Hill Farm at Sagra is the corporate’s second location. Its inaugural property opened final 12 months at Stemple Creek Ranch in California and a 3rd property is deliberate for the Catskills area in New York in 2023.
Charges at Hill Farm by Sagra start at $279.
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