🔒Q&A: Farm & wedding venue keeps family legacy alive

The family-owned Farm at SummitWynds in Jefferson, a village within Holden, has weathered decades of change, loss, and reinvention. Over the years, the property has served as a ski lodge, fiberglass factory, and horse farm. Today, it operates as a wedding venue with sweeping views of Mount Wachusett. The farm’s lavender fields draw visitors for its Lavender Farm Fest and other family-friendly events. Through resilience and creativity, the Farm at SummitWynds has found new purpose while honoring its hard-fought legacy, according to owner and president Amy Parker.

Can you describe your family’s history with the property?

My parents bought the 125-acre farm in 1964. At the time, the only buildings on the property were the house and the stone barn, originally built to be the ski lodge. Besides being a ski lodge, it was previously a fiberglass company that made life-size animals like the horses that used to be at Rose Package Store in Holden.

They also built pools and custom stairs for President John F. Kennedy at the White House and his Hyannis Port home for his back issues. Then, my parents bought it to be used as a barn and raised horses. They built stalls, several buildings, and an indoor riding arena and named it SummitWynds Farm.

Why did you convert into a lavender farm and wedding venue?

We started doing weddings in 2015-2016. We were looking to diversify, because the horse industry is so volatile. Our original plan was to do blueberry plants. Then, a blueberry farmer told us he was also doing weddings, and that was something I had thought of doing on our farm. Instead of blueberries, we switched to lavender and started hosting weddings. We were shocked by the response we received and how many people actually wanted to get married on our farm. My daughter was married on the farm, and one day my granddaughter wants to be too.

What other events draw visitors to your farm?

Our big event is our Annual Lavender Farm Fest, when our lavender is typically in full bloom. We have live music, local artisans, food vendors, and sell our own lavender soft serve ice cream and lavender lemonade. Hardwick Winery comes and has a lavender wine made with our lavender, and Seven Saws Brewing offers lavender beer. This six-day festival is our number one event; 4,000 people attended this year. In addition to our Lavender Farm Fest, we do smaller events where we try to be creative like our Farm to Table Lavender Dinner in July and our Lavender Retreat, where people can relax with massages, a sound bath, and a spiritual walk and dine on lavender-themed foods. Another big event for us is our Unicorn Experience where we use fairy dust to transform our horses into unicorns. Kids love the event, and we sell out every year. We also rent farm stays on Airbnb so people can come see the animals.

What is the most difficult aspect of running a farm?

It's just me, my daughter, and a friend of mine. So, there are no employees although my grandkids are starting to help even though they’re only six and four. So that's tough, but we are proud of our events and work very hard.

As a wedding venue, do you see any new trends?

It seems like people are looking for smaller venues and smaller weddings, which is perfect for us since our maximum capacity in the barn is 90 people. Our couples enjoy that we are on a dead-end road, so they have the area to themselves. It's very private, very serene, overlooking horse pastures and valleys and hills. So I think that's a drawing feature too: how quiet it is, peaceful and private.

What would you like to see for the future of your farm?

I would like to see my family take it over one day and run it, but I understand if they don’t. It is a lot of work. My late husband did a lot of work on the farm and when we lost him, we were not sure if we would be able to keep things going or not. So, we take it one day at a time. This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Correspondent Sloane M. Perron.