A farm vacation leaves you happy

Foliage and friendliness are in the autumn air at a variety of properties

Author: By Anna Kasabian, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, September 13, 1998

Page: D15

Section: Travel

There's quite a collection of working-farm inns, and they vary from elegant, pristine, antique-filled inns to very casual, homey places where you feel, and sometimes work, like part of the family.

I recently spent some time in Vermont on Lake Champlain and visited Shelburne Farms. It is 230 miles from Boston (well worth the drive), so if you go, make it an overnight trip at the least, and don't forget your camera. The local scenery, and this farm, is something to capture on film.

The driveway at Shelburne Farms snakes in easy turns through the green, all the while treating you to enchanting views of the Vermont countryside. In fact, the driveway is so long it builds your anticipation; you wonder whatever in the world so special could be here.

But then, an easy bend in the road reveals what first appears to be an absolutely massive brick mansion. That is just the Farm Barn, and it is an awesome piece of architecture. Continue up the driveway, and at the very top is The Inn at Shelburne Farms, an exquisite example of a Queen Anne Revival manor house that dates to 1889.

A national historic site, this 1,400-acre working farm in Vermont's Lake Champlain Valley was originally the model farm and agricultural estate of William Seward and Lila Vanderbilt Webb. What is now the inn was once their home. And the entire property is today a nonprofit educational organization devoted to preserving and adapting its historic buildings and landscape for teaching and demonstrating the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources. There is also the Stewardship Institute, which offers training in hands-on science for teachers in the Northeast, as well as what's entitled Project Seasons, a national elementary science curriculum.

A day pass here gives you access to the eight miles of walking trails and the historic Farm Barn where you or your children can milk a cow; visit, see, and touch the farm animals; collect eggs; and see how farmhouse cheddar cheese is made from the herd of Brown Swiss cows. Or you can tour the breeding barn built in 1891 to stable Dr. Webb's English Hackney horses.

When I visited, I also saw the farm's open-air wagons full of guests who chose that option to take a tour of the property. It looked like a lot of fun, and good for those of you who don't want to walk, and walk some more. The landscape here was planned with the help of Frederick Law Olmsted and Gifford Pinchot, one of the nation's first conservationists. The wagon tour includes a tour of the gardens at the inn, and the Farm Barn.

There is also a welcome center and farm store on the property where you can see a slide show on the farm's evolution from a private home to a nonprofit educational organization. The farm makes and sells cheese and bread and cures and cob smokes its own hams.

Even if you can't stay at the inn, do not miss it. I walked in without the formal tour, but there are tours as well. It sits on a hill surrounded by a sprawling lawn with perennial gardens sprinkled about. The architecture, workmanship, furnishings, and period details are something you will never forget. There are 24 guest rooms, and beyond the farm and trails for activities, there's tennis, croquet, a game room, lake fishing, and canoeing.

The walking trails are open year round; guided tours stop in mid-October and the inn closes then too. For information, call 802-985-8686.

Some of the events at Shelburne Farm in September and October include: Sept. 19, Annual Harvest Festival; Sept. 20, Flynn Theater Fine Wine & Food Festival (for tickets, call 802-863-8778); Sept. 25, 11th Annual ``Envisioned in a Pastoral Setting'' exhibition and sale; Oct. 18, Pumpkins, Pumpkins; Oct. 24, Haunted Harvest. Call 802-985-8686 for more information on these and other events.

Here's a preview of some of the other farms out there. For more information, visit those with Web sites, call the ones that sound interesting, chat with the innkeepers themselves, and get a brochure:

Berkson Farms, Enosburg Falls, Vt. This working dairy farm is situated on 600 acres in the Missisquoi River Valley. Besides the cows dotting the countryside here, the farm has sheep, ducks, geese, ``chickens that lay big brown eggs, and Jack, our friendly donkey,'' said innkeeper Joanne Keesler. ``We even have a swan in our barnyard.'' Guests can feed the animals, collect eggs, brush and pet the donkey, milk, hay, or help with barn chores. Children are welcome, and have their own play area in the living room complete with puzzles, a play farm, and dolls. There's a large room with a private bath, and three other bedrooms that share a bath, telephone 802-933-2522.

The Inn at Mountain View Creamery, East Burke, Vt. This farm was built in 1883 by Elmer A. Darling, who trained in architecture at MIT and built a series of interesting barns around a courtyard. ``It's like a village of barns with a creamery, workhorse and Morgan stable, English thrashing barn, ice house, sugar shack, and piggery,'' inn owner Marilyn Pastore explained. Built as a gentleman's farm, it supplied meat and dairy products for Darling's Fifth Avenue hotel in Manhattan. The cow barn, 300 feet long, is one of the largest structures in the state and is a landmark for students in design and history. There are all kinds of farm animals here, organic vegetable and perennial gardens, and 440 acres to meander. Guests are, in fact, welcome to graze as they walk the vegetable gardens. They offer special family-farm vacation packages, hayrides, sleigh rides, maps for biking, cross-country skiing, table tennis, croquet, and lawn bowling. You can book a nine-room suite in the farmhouse or one of nine rooms in the inn, telephone 802-626-9924 or 800-572-4509.

Shadowbrook Farms, Fairfield, Vt. They describe themselves as a small family farm with two large resources: Jersey cow and sugarbush -- that's lots of sugar maple trees. Ben & Jerry's uses Shadowbrook's milk in their ice cream, by the way, and the farms produce maple syrup and other products. They offer farm working vacations where you can learn to sugar, run a dairy, drive a tractor, and enjoy farm and sugarbush tours, hayrides, horseback riding, and tent camping, among other things. And, they welcome children and pets. Telephone 800-424-7062.

Historic Brookside Farms Country Inn and Antique Shop, Orwell, Vt. Situated on 300 acres, the farm has its own 26-acre lake on the premises where you can canoe, fish, or swim; there's four miles of hiking and/or cross-country ski trails through 90 acres of private forest, and, of course, a working farm. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the inn structure goes back to 1789, when a large Colonial farmhouse was built. Then, in 1843, ``under the guidance'' of architect James Lamb, it was expanded into a Greek Revival mansion. If you like to read, they boast a 10,000-volume library; if you like antiques, they offer 18th- and 19th-century furnishings and collectibles. The main house has a two-room suite with a private bath, double canopy bed, and a single bed.

The guesthouse has five rooms, three with a shared bath, two with private. Oh, and they speak seven languages. Five-course meals are common, and full country breakfast -- heavy, they say, on the pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. Telephone 802-948-2727.

Homeplace Bed & Breakfast, Jericho, Vt. ``Our horses, sheep, ducks, chickens, cats, dogs, and donkey wait to welcome you to their sprawling home,'' their brochure states. This is not a farmhouse; rather, said owner Mariot Huessy, it's ``my style.'' The woodwork in the house is butternut, and there are interesting antiques throughout, including German armoires from her husband's family in Germany. And there is ``more window than wall'' in the house, showing off the perennial gardens. On the property you'll find hiking and biking trails, and a country pond with frogs and pollywogs. For those of you bringing children, there are hundreds of books and plenty of things to keep them occupied. There are six double rooms, some private and some with shared baths. Dogs are also welcome. Telelephone 802-899-4694.

Old Chatham Sheepherding Company Inn, Old Chatham, N.Y. The working farm sits on 500 acres and is the largest sheep dairy in America. It sits between the Berkshire Mountains and the Hudson River. The farm is down the road from the inn. There's a milking parlor, a creamery where they make cheese, and they produce milk, cheese, meat, and wool products for the inn, and for sale. You don't do any farm chores here; you get to watch, though. There are 10 rooms at the inn, walking trails, bikes, a tennis court, and a greenhouse with herbs grown for the inn's restaurant. They are also a Relais & Chateau member. Telephone 518-794-9774.

Independence Farm, Bed & Breakfast, with Registered Llamas, Vassalboro, Maine. Here, you can walk with the llamas, which, according to the innkeepers, ``are extremely curious and must investigate absolutely everything that goes on around them.'' And did you know they ``hum and orgle?'' Besides breeding these wonderful animals, the innkeeper raises organic vegetables. The inn, an 1820s farmhouse, overlooks Webber Pond in the Kennebec River Valley and sits on 55 acres of fields and woods.

Take a walk and, they say, you could see deer, moose, ``an occasional black bear,'' and some nifty birds. Great Blue Heron, bald eagles, and ospreys hang out at the pond. There are two guest rooms that have queen-size beds and private baths; one room also has a twin bed in it. Both rooms overlook the lake. An additional smaller room is avalable with a double bed. They cook breakfast or dessert in the winter on a wood stove, and there's a wood stove in the living room and den, where there are about 200 movies and comfy chairs. There's a canoe, and a 27-hole golf course a mile away. By the way, the town has what is called ``A Gathering,'' which is a juried show, held Columbus Day weekend on the East Vassalboro Grange. . . . Pat Riedeman, the owner, is showing her one-of-a-kind handmade Santas, three feet tall, and clothing is made from antique textiles, which she buys at auctions. She has clients all over the country -- a waiting list two or three years. She also owns an antiques store -- folk art, American antiques and decorative accessories -- in Hallowell, Maine, which has buildings bult in the 1820s or earlier. Telephone 207-622-0284.

The Inn at East Hill Farm, Troy, N.H. This is a working farm that characterizes itself as a ``150-acre resort'' that also gives every guest the chance to get involved with farm chores, kids included. There are eggs to be gathered, cows and goats who need milking, and sheep and goats who will be thankful for you feeding them. For play, you can take a pony ride, hayride, horseback ride, fish in the pond, cross-country ski, ice-fish, skate on the indoor rink, or swim in the indoor pool. The list goes on and on. Beyond that, they have an organized children's recreation program. Accommodations vary and include cottages, and inn rooms. Telephone 603-242-6495.

Others you might want to call:

Adams Farm, The Ultimate in Agricultural Adventures, Wilmington, Vt. Telephone 802-464-3762.

Rockhouse Mountain Farm, Eaton Center, N.H. Telephone 603-447-2880.

Hamstead Farm Bed & Breakfast Farm Vacation, Bangor, Maine. Telephone 207-848-3749.

The Old Mill Inn B & B, Brandon, Vt. Telephone 802-247-8002.