Hill Farm by Maggie Fisher.
Vermont Business Magazine The Hill Farm Inn is now Hill Farm by Sagra and is officially open to guests for an enhanced experience that allows visitors to stay on a sustainable farm and immerse themselves in the beautiful landscape with sweeping views of the Green and Taconic Mountain Ranges. Nestled in the Equinox Mountain Valley along the Battenkill River, Hill Farm began as a Vermont dairy in the 1780’s and opened its doors to overnight guests in the mid-1800’s.
Over the past 10 years, the Pollard family, owners of Hill Farm, have carefully restored and renovated Hill Farm’s inn, cottages, and barns and have now added a wonderful new restaurant with stunning views of the farm and Equinox Mountain Valley. Designed with the guest experience in mind, Hill Farm is equipped with beautiful accommodations that highlight the unique history of the property and natural environment of the area, offering a wide range of on-farm and off-farm activities that connect the guests to the land.
The Pollards have now teamed up with Sagra to enhance and expand the Hill Farm guest experience to include a sustainable vegetable farm with hands-on classes and farm-to-table dining that highlights the beauty and bounty of the Southern Vermont region.
Sagra, meaning “a local festival and feast to celebrate the harvest – a celebration of nature, of earth and its bounty” in Italian, offers unique hospitality experiences on farms that inspire deep connections to our food, the land, and each other. The company aims to offer experiences that show guests how regenerative agriculture can help fight climate change and build healthy ecosystems. Hill Farm by Sagra is the company’s second location, with their first at Stemple Creek Ranch in Tomales, California, and a third projected to open in New York’s Catskills region in 2023.
“Hill Farm offers travelers a wonderful opportunity to connect with the agricultural history of Vermont while taking in the beautiful views, hiking or fishing along the historic Battenkill river, and experiencing the nearby town of Manchester. We hope everyone leaves with a deeper connection to the land and how our food is grown.” – David Rust, CEO of Sagra.
Accommodations
The property offers recently restored accommodations with 11 rooms in the historic inn and 4 private cottages, available in three and four bedroom configurations with full kitchens. The design is centered around the region, with materials that blend modern and rustic for a comfortable stay for solo travelers, couples, and groups of friends or family. Each room is uniquely designed with pieces sourced from local and sustainable artisans, including Cieri Fabrication ceramics and Vermont Heritage Wool Company blankets. In-room amenities include guidebooks, books about food and farming, seeds for guests to plant upon their return home, Sagra Regenerative Soaps made by MoonCloth Design, and Made In Cookware in the cottages.
Farm
With 15 years of farming expertise throughout New England, Farm Manager Nicole Duch brings new life to Hill Farm’s soil through regenerative practices and the introduction of a market garden, which is a small-scale, diverse production of vegetables, fruits, and flowers sold directly to consumers and restaurants that is both economically and environmentally sustainable. The new Hill Farm rotation of crops is key to balancing nutrients in the ground and keeping the ecosystem healthy. This includes the application of compost and other natural amendments, making sure heavy feeding crops, like tomatoes and cabbage, are followed by lighter feeding crops, like lettuces and peas, and growing cover crops whose purpose is to feed the soil. In the future, the property will be adding a propagation house for year round growing in this cold climate and a highly anticipated berry orchard.
Experiences
The property offers guided and self guided experiences that connect guests more deeply with their surroundings, agriculture, and each other. The wide range of activities include farm tours, culinary classes, harvesting activities, fly-fishing, hiking, natural dyeing, yoga, feeding the four alpacas, and unwinding at the pool and on the grounds with fire pit s’mores and lawn games.
Dining
The food experience on property allows guests to immerse themselves in understanding the importance and story of regenerative agriculture. The restaurant tells this story by featuring ingredients from the farm, native plants, and neighboring food producers, highlighting crops that are planted in rotation for soil health, and utilizing whole animal butchery. Native Vermonter Chef Austin Poulin, formerly of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York and Albi in Washington DC, is at the helm of the restaurant, where he creates wood-fired dishes that encapsulate the surrounding foodshed.
Breakfast is included for all guests, with dishes such as locally made yogurt and granola and sourdough pancakes with blueberries and maple roasted bacon. For fall, dinner is served as a prix-fixe, family style meal to encourage conversation and community. Dishes include Hill Farm Tomatoes & Melon, Studio Hill Farm Leg of Lamb & Tropea Onion, and Black Lime Pavlova. Also on property is The Farmstand, which showcases local produce, provisions, and makers of the area for guests and locals to purchase. Many of the items eaten at dinner or seen around the site are available for purchase.
Fly fishing by Oliver Parini
SUNDERLAND, VERMONT, September 23, 2022 – Hill Farm by Sagra
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