Happy Vermonters: Beth Kennett Shares Her Farm with Open Arms
September 01, 2018

Beth Kennett welcomed her first overnight guests to Liberty Hill Farm in 1984. Back then, hosting visitors was a way for Beth and her husband, Bob, to start to diversify their income as farmers.

Ever since, families and couples from the Netherlands, Italy, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, California and beyond have stayed at the farm. Many return every after year and have formed lasting friendships with the couple.

The working dairy farm, which dates back to the 1780s, is located in Rochester just off Route 100 in the heart of the Green Mountains. Guests are welcome to help milk cows, pick vegetables from the garden and feed baby calves.  When I visited the farm in August with my daughter, we easily shifted into low gear as we picked rocks along the nearby White River and cuddled with a barn kitten named “Happy.”

One of the highlights of our stay was the chance to spend time with other guests. Every night at 6 o’clock, Beth serves up a family-style meal, which includes everything from baked chicken or fresh salmon to yellow squash, homemade biscuits and a chocolate zucchini cake or berry crisp for dessert. Beth and her family sit together with guests, chatting and getting to know one another over dinner.

The farm offers seven guest rooms, four shared baths, two spacious sittings rooms, a dining room and a delightful front porch. Liberty Hill Farm is also where you’ll find 250 Robeth Holsteins, whose milk is used to make Cabot Creamery cheese and butter.

Running a farm and inn is hard work. But for Beth, hosting guests has only enriched her life as a farmer.
“We’ve had guests come here again and again for over 30 years, and we’ve made the most amazing and wonderful relationships,” says Beth. “It’s an incredible gift to be able to share what we have here with others—the beauty of the hills, the abundance of the garden, the freedom of children running around and playing. How many people get to do that?”

For more information, visit www.libertyhillfarm.com

Read my story about Liberty Hill Farm on Ski Vermont’s All Mountain Mamas family travel blog.

–Happy Vermonters is a series about why people love Vermont.