35 Acre Brattleboro Farm, w/ house, barn, greenhouse for Lease or Sale

38 acres • $2,500

Property Owner:

Farmer or farm family

Contact Name:

Lisa

Property Location:

799 Upper Dummerston Road, Brattleboro Vermont
View Location on Google MapsView Soil Info on VT Natural Resources AtlasView Atlas Tutorial

The Land

Total number of acres available with this property:

38.0

Total acres available for agriculture:

8.0

Acres of forested land:

25.0

Acres of cropland or tillable land:

5.0

Acres of pasture:

8.0

Other open and/or non-farmable land:

In addition to the 8 pasture (5.7 tillable) are 25 acres of forest (oak, maple, hemlock and pine) for lumber, firewood, house or camp site, forest grazing. Property is bound by 2 brooks w/waterfall and includes a utility ROW through the forest suited to Sheep/goat grazing with view of nearby mountains. Pond site adjacent to brook below barn.

Quality of land:

Organic. Agricultural soils (Quonset/Warwick) with good drainage & productivity. Currently 7+ acres fenced organic pasture w/ 5.7acres suitable for tillage/veg, in addition to 1/2 acre existing no-till garden beds with high organic matter in veg, flower & berry. The main field is 4-strand fenced for pasturing cattle, with three access gates and a full perimeter tractor/truck access, because that's what it was when I got here. But farm next door has acres tilled and ag advisor says veg, berry flowers better return. The forest has many harvest-ready oaks and hemlock and is beautiful. This soil is great - well-drained (not too);responds well to increasing organic matter and some lime. Fertilized with organic cow and chicken manure and North Country Organics. Certifiable. Every piece I’ve tilled and amended Has sprung to life with great tilth and productivity. It’s a joy to work with this soil.

Farm Information

Water sources present:

Available

Water sources details:

Ample clean tested water, planned redundancy. Farmhouse well (5.8gpm) is piped to greenhouse, and year-round brook below pasture currently provides livestock water. In process of getting funding for in new well to exclude cows from brook, and to capture water from huge barn roof.

Barns and sheds:

Available

Farmer housing:

Available

Farmer housing details:

1830 farmhouse with original wood floors, new kitchen, fireplace living room, big windows, deep porch, 3 bedrooms with high ceilings upstairs, full bath, closed cell foam and cellulose insulated attic & cellar, mudroom. All utilities including high speed cable internet. Current owner in adjacent apartment separate entrance. 5 minutes to downtown.

Equipment and machinery:

Available

Equipment and machinery details:

All equipment as-is, with deposit or included in complete sale: Kubota L3800HST w/bucket only 200hrs, 5' Machio tiller, 5' rotary cutter forks. 3 stage snow blower mower. Stihl blade trimmer, gas & electric chainsaw, irrigation pump/main/some tape, fence energizers & rolls poultry net Two pallets new Vermont Compost Potting Mix

Farm infrastructure details:

Two story 50x70 gunstock queen-post bank barn with 9 KW PV system/30 panels. Has held horses, goats, laying hens, workshop, storage - awarded $15,000 Barn Preservation Grant. 26x72 gothic Rimol greenhouse, R/up sides, power vent, water. electricity, And 12x16 insulated heated cabin/plant starting shed TBD. Hardwire electric to pasture fence.

Tenure Arrangement

Tenure arrangement:

Property for sale

Property for rent

Other

Property for sale:

TBD. Posted as lease so a farmer could get on the ground for spring, and owner can help transition.

Sale price:

$2,500

Additional Information

House and farm available for rent May 1st, to see if I can make a place for another farmer here faster than a sale can occur.  At the same time I will consider offers to purchase some or all, but with mission-driven constraints. 

From the bright, beautiful 1830 timber frame/plaster home with views across barn, to the productive garden and greenhouse, birdsong, brooks, waterfall, beautiful mature forest - to the location minutes outside of our thriving arts/book-loving/brewer/Localvore town, this is a unique and special place. There are no loud ATVs or snowmobiles, and the entire farm is non-smoking. 

These 38 acres 5 minutes from downtown are as much a potential community housing resource as a farm - so I'm inclined to structure sale or lease so more than one household can live and work here, while protecting the farm & keeping it active and welcoming to the community. 

I'm open to hearing from both farmers, and non-farmers who wanting to invest in creating a sustainable mini-neighborhood with a place for a farmer in it. Picture owning your home, some or almost all of the land, but choosing to do this in coordination with others to maximize the potential of this place for quality of life and productivity. However it gets structured, the goal is to keep someone who makes a living from the amazing sun, soil, air, and water right here on this land. This connection and knowledge is crucial to our community. 

The barn is a huge resource, scheduled for updates with barn grant this May. Lessee/new owner can tune the renovation plans toward their own vision. The beautiful frame and views from the back over the gardens and pasture are amazing, and the lower level has housed animals, equipment.

Brattleboro is the economic hub of southern Vermont, with a fantastic year-round Farmers' Market and local Coop. There's a thriving network of farms, farmers, and farm customers within the community. The expense of being in town is worth it if your plans capitalize on direct-market or value added, or off-farm work, and for quality of life - music, movies, a welcoming community - and more just south in Greenfield and the Five Colleges area and east to Keene. 

One could build small new energy efficient house on in the forest edges around the field without impacting productivity or beauty. The goal is to keep the land and farm central in all decisions, sustainability as the guide, and to lean toward sharing/coordinated ownership (leaving more time, energy and money for good causes) over possessing/locking down for the use of one person or family. 

Lastly:. I am a science teacher, pragmatic farmer, entrepreneur with a sustainability and social justice bent - not a whack-job, vision-without-substance, hippy-dippy or wishy-washy scenario. Legal advisors will keep any agreements clean, 

Please send a letter of interest about yourself and include your vision/goals, needs/wants, and experience/resources, including financial ability/budget, timeline and number of people. Photos aren't very good, try Maps for overview and FB for more photos?
 
Lisa Holderness

799 Upper Dummerston Rd

Brattleboro, VT 05301

[email protected]

(802) 380-7797