Or farms, more accurately..
I don't understand the concept of being super rich.
Shelburne Farms is an example of that.
In a nutshell..... A Vanderbilt inherited $10 million from her grandfather in 1881. I thank that is a bazzion dollars today, but I am not guaranteeing accuracy in my figures.
Anyway, her husband started buying up farms in the Shelburne area in 1885...he ended up buying 36 farms, or so I heard. Why? He wanted to create a summer get away.
They built a palatial estate, gardens, and farm buildings to house all their toys. For example, they had a carriage barn that was home for 30 carriages. The barn has two levels and a "platform" that a carriage can be put on and hoisted manually up to the second floor for storage.
I believe the main house is 40,000 square feet...enough room for the family, I suppose. There is a mile and a half of frontage on Lake Champlain. The estate eventually topped out at 3,200 acres.
Things change...Depression, the automobile, death, income taxes....and in the 1960s the youngest son and heir gathered his children and said, we can't afford this. There is an opportunity to sell off the property to developers and the house as a resort. What do we do?
The kids said.....no. Don't sell.
They brainstormed ideas and came up with this: Turn the farms into a not for profit organization that preserves and educates.
That's what they do. They actually have a school for youngsters through sixth grade, if I remember. They also do conservation classes....drawing over 30,000 students a year. Most of the 62 full time year round employees are educators.
Their mission is to find ways to promote sustainable agriculture and a sustainable life style. Solar panels provide 20 percent of the power. The lamb and beef served for dinner were animals raised on the farm. Chickens provide the eggs. Livestock waste is the only fertilizer used.
The foundation leases space for private businesses. The foundation makes cheese and maple syrup which is sold to sustain the efforts Fundraisers are held to restore buildings.
The farms have shrunk to 1,300 acres, of which 400 are wooded and 300 grazed. There are walking paths all over the place and town residents can use the grounds for walking or cross country skiing.
Education is the main focus, trying to teach ways to live in harmony with the earth.
All done in a drop dead gorgeous setting.
Cue the camera.....
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| The Farm Barn |
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| The inn |
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| Out for a sail....view from the lawn |
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| Making cheese in the Farm Barn. |
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| The Farm Barn from te back |
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| Sitting hall at the Inn.....fire was nice today because it was cold! |
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| Inn is an old one! |
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| Inn from lakeside....formal gardens have partially been restored |
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| All the stucco panels have the same patter on the inn |
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| The inn from the side |
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| The Carriage Barn is now a center for art shows and other community events |
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| This is the school in the Farm Barn |
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| Wood shop in the Farm Barn, |
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| I got to milk a cow in the kid's area! |
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