A Family Retreat
At the southern-most, narrowest tip of the prettiest valley in Virginia
Our 50 acre family homestead is nestled into the southern tip of the beautiful Rockfish Valley, in the Piedmont region of central Virginia, south of Charlottesville.
It includes two family homes, our guest cottage, some small barns and paddocks, and some noble, Very Old trees. A large south-facing field currently serves for hay, and 39 acres of mature woods host wildlife and hiking trails. We back up to hundreds of acres of undisturbed forest kept under conservation easement, and near George Washington National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
One of our favorite neighborhood features are the miles of flat, public walking trails stewarded by the Rockfish Valley Foundation. Our dirt road is part of the trail system, and we walk the wide, well-maintained trails nearly daily.
Fiber, Fruit, and Flowers
We keep a flock of about 20 hens for eggs for ourselves, guests, and friends, and farm fruit and vegetables for our family, customers, and guests. Much of the harvest is preserved as jams, teas, tinctures, salves, lineaments, and other products.
We grow apples, figs, cherries, persimmons, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, many medicinal and magical herbs, a variety of roses, and annual flowers and vegetables.
We have a few small-but-rowdy goats, and 3 cats of varying quality.
Who we are
in 2012 we left the city to try a simpler life in their beloved Rockfish Valley, a place we’d fallen in love in and with when we were at UVa for graduate school.
I had been a college English professor, selling paintings from my backyard studio, and Preston, my husband, had just finished his first book to some acclaim.
We settled into our mountain home with three young children, and the next year, began renting out an old trailer on the farm on Airbnb. In 2018 we replaced the trailer with a hand-built guest house, and renovated our studios behind the building.
By 2020 I had been tapped by Airbnb for a pilot program that gathered the platform’s most beloved hosts and trained them to mentor new hosts. I continue to mentor new hosts both for Airbnb and independently on her website. I am also one of two volunteer Community Leaders for the official Airbnb Host Club of Central Virginia. I continue to paint and make pottery, which are available in local galleries and on my website.
Preston has published seven books, predominantly about African American music and culture. Our children are teens, and the farm remains an oasis of calm where we make art, write, read, garden, and spend time with family. We are delighted you are here, and would love to share our lovely corner of the world with you!
