Escape to the Country: 4 Luxury Hobby Farms

That occasional daydreamer’s urge to escape the city, quit the rat race, and live on a farm takes root for some people and never goes away. This edition of Luxury Defined is for them. 

“Green Acres” fantasies aside, the reality is that full-time farming is hard, hard work, with long hours and tough working conditions that can involve mud, lots of it, and manure. See Clarkson’s Farm, All Creatures Great or Small, or, for that matter any BBC farm drama or sitcom, for details. 

This is more the Martha Stewart style of farming, where one might dip a shiny new Hunter wellie’s toe into that lightly muddied lifestyle—and literally harvest its lavish rewards.  

Enter the hobby farm. It’s a lifestyle that leads to breakfast eggs straight from the hen, honey from one’s own bees, and fresh-cut flowers, organic fruits and vegetables hand-picked from one’s own gardens and orchards, and wine crushed from one’s own noble grapes.  

So, we begin with the peace, quiet, privacy and security of a luxuriously appointed house in an idyllic, pastoral setting. Add a barn, a greenhouse, a henhouse, and go from there, farm-to-table with a farm of one’s own.  

1. Ferguson Farm in Hartland, Vermont, United States 

A lovingly restored, classic brick Federal home built in 1784, Ferguson Farm is embraced by sugar maples and stone walls on 83 acres of rolling farmland and woods in the countryside of Hartland, Vermont. 

The main house provides four commodious bedrooms, five full bathrooms and one half-bath. The spacious country-style island kitchen has an inviting fireplace. Five chimneys serve multiple hearths. A long, L-shaped, columned porch, perfect for alfresco dining or sunset contemplation, overlooks the four-acre swimming pond.  

The four-level cupola-topped Shaker barn is the co-star of the show. It currently accommodates horses and chickens, with ample space for equipment and storage—or a barn dance—but also provides a guest bedroom and bathroom, office space, and room for an artist’s studio or a gym. There’s a workshop in the shed for equipment maintenance or repair. 

The gardens provide plentiful flowers and an ample harvest of apples. There is an extensive network of well-maintained trails for riding, skiing, or walking by the beaver pond, the swimming pond, and into the woods. 

There is easy access to Interstates 89 and 91 and the Lebanon Municipal Airport, just over the New Hampshire line. 

2. Boutique Wine Estate in Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa 

This boutique wine estate is surrounded by the vine-clad valleys of the Franschhoek, a world-class wine region between the Wemmershoek Mountains and the Groot Drakenstein and Franschhoek Mountains on South Africa’s Western Cape.  

The property encompasses nearly five acres. To the south is an established and productive olive grove. To the north is a merlot vineyard producing 4,000 bottles of wine per year. The remaining land is composed of classically inspired gardens with a swimming pool and a tennis court framed by the vineyards and mountains.   

The manor house integrates contemporary and colonial architectural elements. There are eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.  

The reception rooms include a drawing room and sitting room, both with log-burning hearths, and a formal dining room adjoining a fully equipped chef’s kitchen and a temperature-controlled wine room. At the rear, mullioned glass walls open to the pool deck and another view of the vines. 

Related: Discover Dream Homes for Wine Connoisseurs

3. Rural Sanctuary in Sutton Forest, NSW, Australia 

This rural idyll is surrounded by the picturesque woodlands and farms of the Southern Highlands’ Sutton Forest, one of NSW’s historic colonial settlements.  

Tranquility pervades the formal gardens, where sweeping level lawns are adorned with roses and daffodils, and specimen trees such as white birch. Adding to the horticultural delights are an organic vegetable garden, pear and maple trees, and a greenhouse. 

The farm includes a chicken coop, newly built cattle yards, machinery sheds, water and gas tanks, and bore irrigation. 

All manner of creature comforts await within the owner’s residence: formal and informal living spaces for effortless entertaining on a grand or intimate scale, and a professional-grade kitchen with marble benches, a central island, and stainless-steel gas appliances. Outside there are abundant terraces to breathe in the fresh country air and an infinity pool to escape the summer heat. 

The five bedrooms, all oversized, include a palatial primary suite with an equally deluxe en suite bathroom. The home is fully furnished and air-conditioned throughout, and appointed with hardwood floors, high ceilings, double-glazed windows, and several wood-burning fireplaces. 

4. 17th-Century Farmstead in Parque Natural da Arrábida, Palmela, Portugal 

Self-sufficient and luxurious, this striking equestrian farmstead presides over Portugal’s Serra da Arrábida Natural Park, about 15 miles from Lisbon, with 360-degree views of the Sintra Mountains, the Tagus River, and the Costa da Caparica. 

Encompassing nearly 10 acres, the property includes a main house, guest and staff apartments, farm buildings, and a stable complex. 

The farmhouse provides 3,336 square feet of luxurious living space with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a living room, a gourmet kitchen, wide terraces, gardens, and a swimming pool.  

The guest residence has its own pool and is divided into three apartments.  

The stables house seven looseboxes, a wash bay, and a bathroom, and open to an all-weather riding arena, fenced paddocks and pastures. 

The ancillary structures include kennels, a dovecote, henhouses, and two functional mills, a two-story stone mill and a three-story wood mill, which date from the 17th century. 

A game room, wine cellar, workshop, storage sheds, garages, a two-borehole water system and tank and a 70-kilovolt amp generator complete the amenities. 

Looking for a country life down on the farm? Start here.