Stony Creek Farm (Delaware County, NY). Photo: Feather Down Farms
Feather Down Farm Days, a European company offering "farm-stays," is counting on you to cough up $300 to spend a night on a farm. Feather Down partners with independent farmers to create a rural getaway for city-dwellers. The Netherlands-based company was founded in 2004 and the concept has since been expanded to France and the United Kingdom. As of this year, it has crossed the Atlantic with three American farms now participating.
Feather Down Farm Days provides the farmers with tents, furnishings for the tents (beds, wood-burning stoves, hand-cranked coffee grinders and oil lanterns, since the tents are electricity-free) and technicians to set them up. Feather Down then requires the farmers to install plumbing and provide a place to take a hot shower.
The farmers are also expected to set up a "farm shop" where guests can purchase foodstuffs (some of it from the farm itself) and other supplies. Lastly, the company requires the farmers to build an outdoor pizza oven and offer a make-your-own pizza night on Saturday night. (A random requirement as far as your ShelterPop editors are concerned.)
Exterior of a guest tent at Ambrosia (Otsego County, NY) . Photo: Feather Down Farm Days
Farm activities vary from farm to farm, but guests are able to participate in the day-to-day farm experience, whether it is milking a cow or picking tomatoes. The farm stays are geared at families, so there are likely to be child-friendly activities available. Not only does the Feather Down concept give city-slickers a chance to reconnect with the life agrarian, it also helps farmers earn a supplemental income, which is often much-needed.
Interior of tent at Kinnikinnick (Boone County, IL). Photo: Feather Down Farm Days
Stony Creek Farm in Walton, NY is one of the first U.S. branches of the Feather Down chain. At approximately $300 a night, we're not sure we'd pay to stay the night at the farm. However, as
The New York Times's
Kim Severson recently wrote of her own stay at Stony Creek Farms, "It did have a little of that Tom Sawyer fence-painting quality to it. But I got a little education in the process. And I got to keep a pile of spectacular Tuscan kale, some tender stalks of fennel and a few crookneck squash." An education? Hmmm, well, that
is priceless, after all.
A typical bedroom in a Feather Down tent. Photo: Feather Down Farm Days
So how about you, would you pay to stay on a farm? What about other nutty ideas:
Would you live in a treehouse?
How about a firehouse?
Editor's note: We hear that Feather Down has recently dropped prices significantly. Prices now ranges from $189 to $234 per night.
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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
There are lots of more affordable farm stays than these! Check out the links on my blog: www.farmstays.blogspot.com, where you can find farm stay directories published by state agriculture and tourism organizations. Some states, like Maine and Pennsylvania, even have farm vacation associations.
ReplyMichelle is right. There were farm stays in the U.S. before Feather Down came in with its franchise concept. Most of us charge far less per night and often include one or two meals in the price. With the difficulty of making a living as a small farm, a number of us have looked at other ways to add value to what we do and offer. At the same time, many urban folks are looking for retreats outside the city limits and/or ways to educate themselves and their kids on local food production... what would have been a trip to grandma's farm 50 years ago is now a trip to my farm. Look around your state for places to stay. Use Michelle's links. We call ourselves farmstays, farm B&Bs, ranches. For an example of the alternative, visit my website www.leapinglambfarm.com. Reconnect with the land...stay on a farm. You'll be glad you did.
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