A woman transformed a 130-acre property in New York into an organic farm complete with a cozy yurt. Now it's on the market for just over $2 million take a look.
Maria Noyen
- A biodynamic farm built from "raw land" by its current owner has hit the market.
- Known as Z Farm, the $2 million property is home to wildlife, hiking, and views of the Catskills.
An idyllic 130-acre farm in Columbia County, New York, is on the market.
Known as Z Farm, the lush property was transformed by its current owner from "raw land" a few minutes outside of a small town called Belmont in 2017, Houlihan Lawrence listing agent Rachel Haley told Insider.
Six years later, the property is on sale for $2.2 million. Take a look.
Z Farm is a "deeply meaningful" place for its current owner, listing agent Rachel Haley told Insider.
"She's turned it into a completely working, functional organic farm," Haley said, adding that the current owner only decided to sell it for $2,295,000 due to the sheer amount of work it takes to maintain a working farm.
"The land is deeply, deeply meaningful to her," Haley added. "But now, she's in the later part of her life, and they're looking to kind of downsize."
According to Haley, Z Farm is not just any run-of-the-mill organic farm.
The land, which the current owner has leased to a farm company that raises sheep and cultivates vegetables and flowers, goes beyond what is expected of a standard organic farm, Haley said.
"It's actually one step beyond organic. It's called biodynamic," she said. "It's a different type of agriculture that takes it a little more in-depth than organic farming, so there's a lot of certifications and a lot of standards that the land and the practices have to meet."
By continuing to lease the farmland, a new owner won't have to pay any property tax, Haley said.
Among the benefits of buying Z Farm is that a new owner won't have to pay any property tax. According to Haley, the onus of paying those fees is currently on the farm company leasing the land to raise livestock and grow vegetables.
"They pay the owner, and then they also pay the taxes on the land," Haley said, referring to the farm company.
"It's kind of a win-win because the farm company gets to use the land, and the owner's getting someone to manage it and take care of the land, and they're also getting their taxes paid for," she added.
Another draw of Z Farm is that a new owner would get to experience the custom-built, 720-square-foot yurt, which the current owner rents out on Airbnb.
Soon after the current owner bought the land, she began hiring seasonal farm workers who needed a place to stay. While building them housing, she decided to go a step further by creating a luxury, custom-built yurt.
"When she started getting into it, she thought, 'You know what, let's just do this a little fancy,'" Haley said.
Once construction on the yurt finished, Haley said the owner decided to put the circular tent-like structure on Airbnb, where it's currently available to book year-round from around $250 a night, depending on the season.
"That's been a really lucrative thing for her as well," Haley said. "It's very, very popular. A lot of people want to come up to the Hudson Valley and stay on an organic farm."
Built using locally sourced materials and salvaged wood, the yurt has an open-living concept that toes the line between luxury and rustic charm.
While the majority of people who have stayed in the yurt have done so for short periods, Haley said the structure also lends itself to being used as a full-time home — no matter the season.
"It's built like a cabin with canvas over it," she said, indicating that it is well-insulated. "And there's a full heating system in it too."
Besides adequate heating for the colder months, Haley said there's air-conditioning installed to keep the space cool in the summer as well as key infrastructure such as a septic system and electricity.
Haley said the yurt is the perfect size for a couple, but she added that the current owner once let a family live there for a whole year.
Haley thinks the yurt is the perfect-sized space for a couple to stay in long-term because there is one sleeping loft accessible from the main floor by a wooden ladder.
However, she said the current owner let a family with children live in the space for around a year.
Logistically, she said, a family could very well live in the yurt full-time. "Not my family," Haley said jokingly. "But some families."
One of the standout features of the yurt is the antique tub, which sits beside a window providing sweeping views of the surrounding pastures.
Unlike some cabins that are on the more rustic side, the yurt at Z Farm is equipped with a few other modern luxuries, including full indoor plumbing and running hot water.
According to the Airbnb listing, the home also has an outdoor shower with hot water and a rain showerhead.
Besides the yurt, the land also comes with a bee apiary and a pole barn built by a crew of Amish men.
The Amish pole barn is yet another unique feature of Z Farm, Haley said. It was erected by a crew of Amish builders.
"The contractor actually goes and picks them up in Pennsylvania, a whole crew of men," Haley said. "And they come and they literally put up a barn in, like, three days."
Built with a tongue-and-groove style, meaning using interlocking ridges to secure wooden planks together, the timber frame of the pole barn is "completely handmade," Haley said.
"It's incredible," she added. "It's such a crazy thing."
For Haley, though, the main appeal of Z Farm is what it offers on the outside.
Haley said she's visited Z Farm multiple times because the land has already generated a ton of interest from prospective buyers.
Although the yurt is special and unique in its own right, Haley said what stands out to her is everything the land has to offer — from the spring-fed swimming ponds surrounded by "a panoramic view of these rolling bucolic hills" to the hiking trails up to the highest point of Z Farm.
"The highest point in the property actually has Catskill views," she added. "If you hike up there, it's surprising, you know? That you can see all the way from Albany down out through Kingston. It's really incredible."
An ideal buyer is someone who has a similar interest in organic farming as the creator of Z Farm, or someone looking to build their dream home within an "oasis," Haley said.
Z Farm is already perfectly set up for someone interested in taking over the organic farming efforts of the original owner, but it's also an "ideal situation" for anyone looking to design and build a dream house, Haley said.
The majority of the land that Z Farm sits on is protected by the Columbia Land Conservancy, she added, which means that it can't be developed. But there are two sites within the 130 acres where it would be possible for a new owner to build a house, should they wish to.
"This isn't the property where you're going to build multiple houses or create some kind of development," Haley said.
"I think the perfect owner of this land would have some kind of interest in organic farming," she added. "It would just be like an oasis for somebody."
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