A popular Blue Hill berry-picking farm is up for sale for $4.5 million for the first time in a quarter century.
Married couple Jeff and Trudy Beardsworth are selling Homewood Farm after running the family-friendly Ackley Farm Road property for 25 years. The farm — which has sold everything from turkeys, chickens and lambs to pumpkins, potatoes and apple cider — has long been a local hotspot for berry-picking.
The Beardsworths, who moved to the property in 2001, announced the sale Wednesday afternoon, according to their Facebook post.
“We’ve poured our hearts, hard work and love into farming this land and making it our own,” the owners said Wednesday on social media. “Before us, Homewood Farm was owned by Ruth and Millard Bowden. We had the privilege of farming the land under Ruth’s ownership for seven years before making it our own and continuing the farm’s story for the past 25 years.”
Jeff Beardsworth, a logger by trade who started working on the farm at 27 and is now 66, said he’s not in a big rush to sell the land. He and his wife plan to relocate to Penobscot, but they’ve still planted strawberries for next season in the event they haven’t found an interested buyer by then.
“The lady who left me this place said, ‘Jeff, if the necklace gets too heavy, take it off,’” Jeff Beardsworth told the Bangor Daily News Friday afternoon. “I said, ‘What do you mean? I don’t wear jewelry.’ She goes, ‘the farm.’ So now I look at it and yeah, the necklace is getting heavy and I’ve got to see if someone else wants to enjoy it.”
Homewood Farm, listed by Voyageur Signature Properties, is a 170-acre property with views of the Blue Hill Peninsula, according to the listing.
The 4-bedroom farmhouse was first built in the mid-1800s but was expanded and renovated in 2021, preserving the barroom’s tin ceilings and walls and the kitchen’s exposed ceiling beams. The kitchen holds a vintage, cast-iron and wood-burning stove that dates back more than a 100 years.
The property includes 28 acres of fertile cropland, 30 acres of pasture and an actively managed woodland, according to the listing. It also features an antique hay barn that was relocated to the property and is more than several hundred years old, according to the listing.
The listing includes storage space, produce-packing facilities, livestock-watering ponds and ample equipment, according to the property description.
“It’s not an easy place to leave: Homewood Farm has been so much more than a home or a business — it’s been our life,” the Beardsworths said on Facebook. “There are countless memories woven into this land, and it’s hard to imagine handing it over to someone new. But while the farm is in great shape and we still have plenty of life and energy left in us, we feel it’s time to pass the torch to the next ambitious farmer, a new family, or someone with a dream of their own.”
The couple has two kids — a local dental hygienist and a son in California — neither of whom want to take over the business, he said.
“I’m not selling it because of my health — I’m just selling it because I’ve got to make a decision someday before I pass or my kids are going to make it for me,” Jeff Beardsworth said.
Locals responded to the couple’s farewell post with memories of their time at the farm. One commenter wrote of her family’s love for the annual hayrides the farm offered.
“Our family has enjoyed your farm for several years,” another commenter wrote. You have brought much happiness to many by sharing your beautiful spot. Good luck to you!!!”