Abbey Road Farm—A Working Farm And Agritourismo

As I stated on Friday, posts have been non-existent over the weekend due to the fact I was at my daughter’s beautiful wedding. The wedding was held at Abbey Road Farm, a working farm, in Carlton, Oregon. It is located in the heart of Oregon’s burgeoning wine area, the Dundee Hills, world famous for award winning pinot noir wine. For a complete story on Abbey Road Farm and photos from around the farm…
After selling their business ventures in Las Vegas, John and Judi Stuart started their search for a farm property to purchase in wine country of Oregon. Abbey Road Farm is the culmination of a vision the Stuarts had when they purchased the 82 acre old horse farm in early 2003. Their original plan was to turn the horse farm into a large goat dairy. But after visiting several large goat dairies first hand to see what it entailed, they decided it would be best in their interests to keep things at a hobby level.
After making that initial decision, they decided to build a very unique Bed and Breakfast on the farm. In July of 2005, they opened the Silo Suites B&B on the property. The two original silos were used by the horse farm as grain and feed storage for the horses. The Stuarts added one more silo for symmetry and balance, designing and converting the three silos into five bedrooms with a foyer lobby connecting all three silo suite buildings.
The original farm house has also been converted to a Bed and Breakfast. On the upper level of the old farm house is a full kitchen and living room. There are two bedrooms on this level and the lower level has three bedrooms and also has a kitchen and dining area where breakfast is served to the guests staying in the Silo Suites.
As I stated earlier, Abbey Road Farm is a working farm. The dairy goats provide the milk that Judi Stuart makes into very delicious goat cheese that is served to the guests at breakfast and is also served at some of the wineries at their wine tastings. Chickens provide for fresh eggs for the guests at breakfast.
Llamas, alpacas and sheep also are raised on the farm and their offspring are sold to area farms to be raised for their wool or for meat.
The one acre garden area provides for fresh vegetables and herbs that are used in meals served by the B&B. The area was first used as a paddock area on the horse farm so the soil was very compacted. The Stuarts used 35 tons of aged horse manure on the soil which has been tilled in so the soil raises lush organic crops now.
The AgriVino Event Center was added to the farm in May 2008 and is a first class space to hold events. It has a commercial kitchen, a bar, serving areas, two spacious restrooms and a large event space. It is used by area wineries for sales meetings, wine maker dinners, and corporate retreats or events. And of course, as we used it, for weddings.
The farm also has a natural seven acre habitat area/wetland preserve where a combination of natural springs and water runoff collects here. The farm has over three miles of buried perforated pipe which collects runoff water and diverts it to the wetland preserve. Ducks, geese and other birds nest in this area. They intermingle with the llamas, alpacas and sheep that graze in the area and keep the grasses and weeds from turning the space into a jungle. They also act as protectors of the birds from predators such as coyotes, raccoons and skunks who like to attack the nests of the birds.
The royal ann cherry trees make up two acres of the farm and were loaded with ripe cherries this weekend. Guests enjoyed grazing on the low hanging fruit.
This growing season, 60 acres of the farm is used to raise red clover as a seed crop. Large combines and harvesters are being readied for use in the next week or two to collect the seed for sale.
Abbey Road Farm is a perfect example of ways a farm can expand into more than just growing crops. Agri-tourism is very big in Europe and is slowly finding its way here into the United States. Abbey Road Farm is leading the way by example here in Oregon.
I highly recommend Abbey Road Farm, whether it is for an event or if you just want to B&B it, rent a room and enjoy Oregon wine country any time of the year.