Latest news with #farmLife
CNN
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- CNN
Truffle-hunting and harvest dinners: How farm stays became glamorous
Before the rise of homesteading influencers, picturing farm life would have likely brought to mind an arduous and messy day: wheelbarrow loads, pig troughs, late-night calving, and long hours spent seeding or harvesting. But the visual markers of a back-to-the-land lifestyle have changed. 'Living off the land,' as depicted in viral Instagram posts and TikTok videos, comes with a farmhouse-style open kitchen with Williams-Sonoma appliances. Family meals are curated with sunlit tablescaping. Sturdy jeans and mucked-up boots have been replaced with cottagecore dresses and 'clean girl' makeup. Now, a new set of Arcadian luxury resorts are offering a taste of farm life — or a more permanent stay — with all the bounties of organic, locally grown crops, and without the daily 14 hours of labor. In the foothills of Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, for instance, guests can stay at the idyllic 4,200-acre Blackberry Farm and partake in fly fishing, horseback riding and the property's 170,000-strong wine cellar. In Portugal's São Lourenço do Barrocal, visitors retreat to a pastoral setting with livestock and olive trees, as well as proximity to a nearby stargazing haven. Within Mexico's resort town of San José del Cabo, Flora Farms offers guest rooms and homes to culinary enthusiasts on an intimate family-run property. And on the eastern side of Puerto Rico, the forthcoming 1,100-acre property Moncayo will offer 400 residences, 68 guest rooms, a 100-acre farm and golf courses along its mountain ridges, valley and coastline. Many of these properties' rooms cost between $1,000 and $3,000 a night, with built residences on Moncayo starting above $12 million. 'There will be rounds of golf, there'll be games of tennis, there'll be island hopping on boats,' said Carter Redd, the president of the Moncayo development project, for the firm Juniper Capital, on a video call. 'But I would be surprised if most days don't start or finish with the trip to the farm.' Influencers have played a role in leading the rebrand of farm life, with Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm — one of homesteading's most visible acolytes — attracting more than 10 million followers on Instagram alone. Aspirational posts from her Utah farm often show Neeleman picking fresh vegetables from her garden with her children (she has eight), and whipping up turmeric lattes with creamy milk straight from the cow's udder. Celebrities also take part (these lifestyles are less replicable for the average person without hired hands). Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella have been known to retreat to the family's 32-acre farm in Pennsylvania — Bella told Dazed in a recent interview that horse poop was her earliest scent memory — while a video tour of Lenny Kravitz's verdant Brazilian fazenda is one of Architectural Digest's most-watched to date. Other celebrities known to participate — or at least be photographed — in the rituals of living off the land include Brie Larson and Shailene Woodley, who are fans of foraging, and Meghan Markle, who harvests honey in her Netflix show and recently posted a video depicted herself of beekeeping with her daughter, Lilibet, on Instagram. Related video This furniture takes a decade to grow and is priced as an artwork Allyson Rees, a senior strategist for trend forecasting company WGSN, thinks that farm stays have wide appeal amid 'a desire for more authentic experiences… and feeling like your vacation has a bit more of a wellness component, and an impactful component to your mental health,' she told CNN over the phone. The global agritourism market, which was worth $69.2 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $197.4 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights, encompasses anything that engages the public with agricultural production, from pumpkin patches and corn mazes to wine tours. But, increasingly, longer-term immersion into the day-to-day of ranches, farms or vineyards has become more appealing. In the US, farm-stay listings increased 71% between August 2019 and August 2024, according to AirDNA, which tracks data on short-term rentals from various platforms. On Airbnb, there were over 1 million searches for farm stays in the first quarter of 2025, per company data provided to CNN, a 20% increase from the same period in 2024. At the heart of many of these agrarian retreats are high-end meals and cooking classes using ingredients grown on site. 'The idea is to have people get more of an appreciation of where local food comes from and what goes into it,' said Kristin Soong Rapoport, a co-owner of Wildflower Farms in the bucolic Hudson Valley area of New York, in a phone call. A former tree nursery, Wildflower's 140-acre plot now offers bountiful crops, meadows and wooded vistas, with dozens of cabins, cottages and suites dotting the land. Beyond more traditional amenities such as a spa and pool, guests can try botanical baking, pressed-flower pottery or take cooking classes with the produce they've freshly picked. This summer, the farm is launching a harvest dinner series, each hosted by a notable figure in the creative or culinary industries — including Oscar de la Renta and Monse creative director Laura Kim and renown chef Flynn McGarry — and featuring ingredients harvested by guests earlier in the day. 'In general, luxury hotels were just touching on… gardening, and it was important for us to really have a farm,' Soong Rapoport said of the early research and planning into the resort. 'I think the size and the ambitiousness of the program was what we thought would make it stand out.' In Puerto Rico, the team behind the Moncayo farm plans to use regenerative agriculture practices and distribute half of its produce to local communities in Fajardo, where it is located, according to its press materials. With 85% of the island's food imported, Moncayo is also positioning itself as 'a learning lab' for agriculture by partnering with local universities, farmers and organizations. 'Our ability to provide fresh produce and fruits locally is really meaningful,' Redd said. The association of locally grown, quality ingredients with luxury is nothing new — and has continued its trajectory ever since organic produce hit the shelves at higher price points, farmer's markets were popularized in major cities, and farm-to-table restaurants proliferated in search of Michelin stars. But now other elements of farm life and homesteading have become aspirational, too, as the lifestyle itself has become less attainable. According to the sustainable food systems thinktank IPES-Food, global land prices doubled from 2008-2022, with 1% of the world's largest farms controlling 70% of global farmland. At the same time, the number of farms worldwide has declined and is projected to continue shrinking. Aside from new luxury properties, agritourism has offered another revenue stream for existing, independent farms. In 2024, hosts of Airbnb farm stays in the US collectively earned over $500 million, the company said. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has credited the industry with revitalizing the Mediterranean's rural areas and boosting its local economies, while Japan's Farm Stay Promotion Plan has encouraged the same, offering traditional stays where guests learn to cook or ferment vegetables with local farmers among picturesque rice fields and mountain ranges. And in China, a 'rural revival' was accelerated during the pandemic, Rees said. With travel and quarantine restrictions, many Chinese urbanites headed outside of cities, fuelling a rural tourism boom, while influencers like Li Ziqi drew large followings to their posts about the idyllic countryside. Not all farm stays and eco villages are inherently expensive, and part of the luxury is finding an experience that's 'off the beaten track — almost like an if-you-know-you-know type of thing,' Rees added. Similar to China's rural tourism trend, the growing interest in farm tourism is partly due to pandemic travel restrictions, Rees explained, when more people sought out local retreats and open air away from major cities but closer to home. That shift in vacation patterns was important to the success of Wildflower Farms, Soong Rapoport noted, which opened in 2022. New York City residents left in droves and many looked north to the Hudson Valley area, with the small town of Hudson seeing the biggest change in net incoming residents out of all US metro areas, according to The New York Times. 'It was a harder story for us to explain to the general public before the pandemic. And so when we opened, I think a lot of people already got the benefit of it, and so it just made it catch on a lot more quickly,' she said. Rees believes that interest in other aspects of farming and off-grid living, such as growing a personal and sustainable food supply, has only grown since the pandemic. 'People were staying home more, but I also think it's very much tied to the preparedness movement and (the desire) to be much more self-sufficient,' she said. 'It's not really this niche thing. It's not like 'Doomsday Preppers' anymore.' Agritourism marks a departure in luxury tourism that is less about visible wealth and excess, according to Vittoria Careri, a marketing manager for The Hospitality Experience, which owns the Italian countryside escape Borgo dei Conti Resort. It aligns with the movement toward 'quiet luxury' in fashion. Like desiring fewer logos on clothing, resort stays don't necessarily need the ultra-expensive poolside bottle of champagne for a photo op. 'That concept of luxury now is old-fashioned,' she said in a video call. 'These types of customers are searching for something more genuine.' In Umbria, the 'green heart' of Italy, guests at Borgo dei Conti stay at a villa that was formerly the home of the late-Romantic Italian painter Lemmo Rossi-Scotti, and can spend their days suiting up to harvest honey with the property's beekeepers, following truffle-hunting dogs to discover a summer version of the delicacy, or picnicking among the verdant olive trees. At any price point, from multi-thousand-dollar stays to more modest accommodations, Rees credits the popularity of agritourism with the wider slow-living movement online (somewhat ironically promoted by influencers across TikTok) — a reaction to the stressors and pace of modern life and increasingly dense metropolises. And Rees says that while Millennials might be more associated with the trend, 'it's quite Gen-Z focused as well.' Careri believes that younger Italians have lost touch with something generational within their families, and now they are seeking it out once more. 'This kind of farming, (raising) the animals, is something our grandparents experienced. But now the new generations, they don't know it,' Careri said, adding that it gives them 'a sense of wonder.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- CNN
Truffle-hunting and harvest dinners: How farm stays became glamorous
Before the rise of homesteading influencers, picturing farm life would have likely brought to mind an arduous and messy day: wheelbarrow loads, pig troughs, late-night calving, and long hours spent seeding or harvesting. But the visual markers of a back-to-the-land lifestyle have changed. 'Living off the land,' as depicted in viral Instagram posts and TikTok videos, comes with a farmhouse-style open kitchen with Williams-Sonoma appliances. Family meals are curated with sunlit tablescaping. Sturdy jeans and mucked-up boots have been replaced with cottagecore dresses and 'clean girl' makeup. Now, a new set of Arcadian luxury resorts are offering a taste of farm life — or a more permanent stay — with all the bounties of organic, locally grown crops, and without the daily 14 hours of labor. In the foothills of Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, for instance, guests can stay at the idyllic 4,200-acre Blackberry Farm and partake in fly fishing, horseback riding and the property's 170,000-strong wine cellar. In Portugal's São Lourenço do Barrocal, visitors retreat to a pastoral setting with livestock and olive trees, as well as proximity to a nearby stargazing haven. Within Mexico's resort town of San José del Cabo, Flora Farms offers guest rooms and homes to culinary enthusiasts on an intimate family-run property. And on the eastern side of Puerto Rico, the forthcoming 1,100-acre property Moncayo will offer 400 residences, 68 guest rooms, a 100-acre farm and golf courses along its mountain ridges, valley and coastline. Many of these properties' rooms cost between $1,000 and $3,000 a night, with built residences on Moncayo starting above $12 million. 'There will be rounds of golf, there'll be games of tennis, there'll be island hopping on boats,' said Carter Redd, the president of the Moncayo development project, for the firm Juniper Capital, on a video call. 'But I would be surprised if most days don't start or finish with the trip to the farm.' Influencers have played a role in leading the rebrand of farm life, with Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm — one of homesteading's most visible acolytes — attracting more than 10 million followers on Instagram alone. Aspirational posts from her Utah farm often show Neeleman picking fresh vegetables from her garden with her children (she has eight), and whipping up turmeric lattes with creamy milk straight from the cow's udder. Celebrities also take part (these lifestyles are less replicable for the average person without hired hands). Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella have been known to retreat to the family's 32-acre farm in Pennsylvania — Bella told Dazed in a recent interview that horse poop was her earliest scent memory — while a video tour of Lenny Kravitz's verdant Brazilian fazenda is one of Architectural Digest's most-watched to date. Other celebrities known to participate — or at least be photographed — in the rituals of living off the land include Brie Larson and Shailene Woodley, who are fans of foraging, and Meghan Markle, who harvests honey in her Netflix show and recently posted a video depicted herself of beekeeping with her daughter, Lilibet, on Instagram. Related video This furniture takes a decade to grow and is priced as an artwork Allyson Rees, a senior strategist for trend forecasting company WGSN, thinks that farm stays have wide appeal amid 'a desire for more authentic experiences… and feeling like your vacation has a bit more of a wellness component, and an impactful component to your mental health,' she told CNN over the phone. The global agritourism market, which was worth $69.2 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $197.4 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights, encompasses anything that engages the public with agricultural production, from pumpkin patches and corn mazes to wine tours. But, increasingly, longer-term immersion into the day-to-day of ranches, farms or vineyards has become more appealing. In the US, farm-stay listings increased 71% between August 2019 and August 2024, according to AirDNA, which tracks data on short-term rentals from various platforms. On Airbnb, there were over 1 million searches for farm stays in the first quarter of 2025, per company data provided to CNN, a 20% increase from the same period in 2024. At the heart of many of these agrarian retreats are high-end meals and cooking classes using ingredients grown on site. 'The idea is to have people get more of an appreciation of where local food comes from and what goes into it,' said Kristin Soong Rapoport, a co-owner of Wildflower Farms in the bucolic Hudson Valley area of New York, in a phone call. A former tree nursery, Wildflower's 140-acre plot now offers bountiful crops, meadows and wooded vistas, with dozens of cabins, cottages and suites dotting the land. Beyond more traditional amenities such as a spa and pool, guests can try botanical baking, pressed-flower pottery or take cooking classes with the produce they've freshly picked. This summer, the farm is launching a harvest dinner series, each hosted by a notable figure in the creative or culinary industries — including Oscar de la Renta and Monse creative director Laura Kim and renown chef Flynn McGarry — and featuring ingredients harvested by guests earlier in the day. 'In general, luxury hotels were just touching on… gardening, and it was important for us to really have a farm,' Soong Rapoport said of the early research and planning into the resort. 'I think the size and the ambitiousness of the program was what we thought would make it stand out.' In Puerto Rico, the team behind the Moncayo farm plans to use regenerative agriculture practices and distribute half of its produce to local communities in Fajardo, where it is located, according to its press materials. With 85% of the island's food imported, Moncayo is also positioning itself as 'a learning lab' for agriculture by partnering with local universities, farmers and organizations. 'Our ability to provide fresh produce and fruits locally is really meaningful,' Redd said. The association of locally grown, quality ingredients with luxury is nothing new — and has continued its trajectory ever since organic produce hit the shelves at higher price points, farmer's markets were popularized in major cities, and farm-to-table restaurants proliferated in search of Michelin stars. But now other elements of farm life and homesteading have become aspirational, too, as the lifestyle itself has become less attainable. According to the sustainable food systems thinktank IPES-Food, global land prices doubled from 2008-2022, with 1% of the world's largest farms controlling 70% of global farmland. At the same time, the number of farms worldwide has declined and is projected to continue shrinking. Aside from new luxury properties, agritourism has offered another revenue stream for existing, independent farms. In 2024, hosts of Airbnb farm stays in the US collectively earned over $500 million, the company said. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has credited the industry with revitalizing the Mediterranean's rural areas and boosting its local economies, while Japan's Farm Stay Promotion Plan has encouraged the same, offering traditional stays where guests learn to cook or ferment vegetables with local farmers among picturesque rice fields and mountain ranges. And in China, a 'rural revival' was accelerated during the pandemic, Rees said. With travel and quarantine restrictions, many Chinese urbanites headed outside of cities, fuelling a rural tourism boom, while influencers like Li Ziqi drew large followings to their posts about the idyllic countryside. Not all farm stays and eco villages are inherently expensive, and part of the luxury is finding an experience that's 'off the beaten track — almost like an if-you-know-you-know type of thing,' Rees added. Similar to China's rural tourism trend, the growing interest in farm tourism is partly due to pandemic travel restrictions, Rees explained, when more people sought out local retreats and open air away from major cities but closer to home. That shift in vacation patterns was important to the success of Wildflower Farms, Soong Rapoport noted, which opened in 2022. New York City residents left in droves and many looked north to the Hudson Valley area, with the small town of Hudson seeing the biggest change in net incoming residents out of all US metro areas, according to The New York Times. 'It was a harder story for us to explain to the general public before the pandemic. And so when we opened, I think a lot of people already got the benefit of it, and so it just made it catch on a lot more quickly,' she said. Rees believes that interest in other aspects of farming and off-grid living, such as growing a personal and sustainable food supply, has only grown since the pandemic. 'People were staying home more, but I also think it's very much tied to the preparedness movement and (the desire) to be much more self-sufficient,' she said. 'It's not really this niche thing. It's not like 'Doomsday Preppers' anymore.' Agritourism marks a departure in luxury tourism that is less about visible wealth and excess, according to Vittoria Careri, a marketing manager for The Hospitality Experience, which owns the Italian countryside escape Borgo dei Conti Resort. It aligns with the movement toward 'quiet luxury' in fashion. Like desiring fewer logos on clothing, resort stays don't necessarily need the ultra-expensive poolside bottle of champagne for a photo op. 'That concept of luxury now is old-fashioned,' she said in a video call. 'These types of customers are searching for something more genuine.' In Umbria, the 'green heart' of Italy, guests at Borgo dei Conti stay at a villa that was formerly the home of the late-Romantic Italian painter Lemmo Rossi-Scotti, and can spend their days suiting up to harvest honey with the property's beekeepers, following truffle-hunting dogs to discover a summer version of the delicacy, or picnicking among the verdant olive trees. At any price point, from multi-thousand-dollar stays to more modest accommodations, Rees credits the popularity of agritourism with the wider slow-living movement online (somewhat ironically promoted by influencers across TikTok) — a reaction to the stressors and pace of modern life and increasingly dense metropolises. And Rees says that while Millennials might be more associated with the trend, 'it's quite Gen-Z focused as well.' Careri believes that younger Italians have lost touch with something generational within their families, and now they are seeking it out once more. 'This kind of farming, (raising) the animals, is something our grandparents experienced. But now the new generations, they don't know it,' Careri said, adding that it gives them 'a sense of wonder.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- CNN
Get in touch with farm life — at $3,000 a night
Before the rise of homesteading influencers, picturing farm life would have likely brought to mind an arduous and messy day: wheelbarrow loads, pig troughs, late-night calving, and long hours spent seeding or harvesting. But the visual markers of a back-to-the-land lifestyle have changed. 'Living off the land,' as depicted in viral Instagram posts and TikTok videos, comes with a farmhouse-style open kitchen with Williams-Sonoma appliances. Family meals are curated with sunlit tablescaping. Sturdy jeans and mucked-up boots have been replaced with cottagecore dresses and 'clean girl' makeup. Now, a new set of Arcadian luxury resorts are offering a taste of farm life — or a more permanent stay — with all the bounties of organic, locally grown crops, and without the daily 14 hours of labor. In the foothills of Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, for instance, guests can stay at the idyllic 4,200-acre Blackberry Farm and partake in fly fishing, horseback riding and the property's 170,000-strong wine cellar. In Portugal's São Lourenço do Barrocal, visitors retreat to a pastoral setting with livestock and olive trees, as well as proximity to a nearby stargazing haven. Within Mexico's resort town of San José del Cabo, Flora Farms offers guest rooms and homes to culinary enthusiasts on an intimate family-run property. And on the eastern side of Puerto Rico, the forthcoming 1,100-acre property Moncayo will offer 400 residences, 68 guest rooms, a 100-acre farm and golf courses along its mountain ridges, valley and coastline. Many of these properties' rooms cost between $1,000 and $3,000 a night, with built residences on Moncayo starting above $12 million. 'There will be rounds of golf, there'll be games of tennis, there'll be island hopping on boats,' said Carter Redd, the president of the Moncayo development project, for the firm Juniper Capital, on a video call. 'But I would be surprised if most days don't start or finish with the trip to the farm.' Influencers have played a role in leading the rebrand of farm life, with Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm — one of homesteading's most visible acolytes — attracting more than 10 million followers on Instagram alone. Aspirational posts from her Utah farm often show Neeleman picking fresh vegetables from her garden with her children (she has eight), and whipping up turmeric lattes with creamy milk straight from the cow's udder. Celebrities also take part (these lifestyles are less replicable for the average person without hired hands). Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella have been known to retreat to the family's 32-acre farm in Pennsylvania — Bella told Dazed in a recent interview that horse poop was her earliest scent memory — while a video tour of Lenny Kravitz's verdant Brazilian fazenda is one of Architectural Digest's most-watched to date. Other celebrities known to participate — or at least be photographed — in the rituals of living off the land include Brie Larson and Shailene Woodley, who are fans of foraging, and Meghan Markle, who harvests honey in her Netflix show and recently posted a video depicted herself of beekeeping with her daughter, Lilibet, on Instagram. Related video This furniture takes a decade to grow and is priced as an artwork Allyson Rees, a senior strategist for trend forecasting company WGSN, thinks that farm stays have wide appeal amid 'a desire for more authentic experiences… and feeling like your vacation has a bit more of a wellness component, and an impactful component to your mental health,' she told CNN over the phone. The global agritourism market, which was worth $69.2 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $197.4 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights, encompasses anything that engages the public with agricultural production, from pumpkin patches and corn mazes to wine tours. But, increasingly, longer-term immersion into the day-to-day of ranches, farms or vineyards has become more appealing. In the US, farm-stay listings increased 71% between August 2019 and August 2024, according to AirDNA, which tracks data on short-term rentals from various platforms. On Airbnb, there were over 1 million searches for farm stays in the first quarter of 2025, per company data provided to CNN, a 20% increase from the same period in 2024. At the heart of many of these agrarian retreats are high-end meals and cooking classes using ingredients grown on site. 'The idea is to have people get more of an appreciation of where local food comes from and what goes into it,' said Kristin Soong Rapoport, a co-owner of Wildflower Farms in the bucolic Hudson Valley area of New York, in a phone call. A former tree nursery, Wildflower's 140-acre plot now offers bountiful crops, meadows and wooded vistas, with dozens of cabins, cottages and suites dotting the land. Beyond more traditional amenities such as a spa and pool, guests can try botanical baking, pressed-flower pottery or take cooking classes with the produce they've freshly picked. This summer, the farm is launching a harvest dinner series, each hosted by a notable figure in the creative or culinary industries — including Oscar de la Renta and Monse creative director Laura Kim and renown chef Flynn McGarry — and featuring ingredients harvested by guests earlier in the day. 'In general, luxury hotels were just touching on… gardening, and it was important for us to really have a farm,' Soong Rapoport said of the early research and planning into the resort. 'I think the size and the ambitiousness of the program was what we thought would make it stand out.' In Puerto Rico, the team behind the Moncayo farm plans to use regenerative agriculture practices and distribute half of its produce to local communities in Fajardo, where it is located, according to its press materials. With 85% of the island's food imported, Moncayo is also positioning itself as 'a learning lab' for agriculture by partnering with local universities, farmers and organizations. 'Our ability to provide fresh produce and fruits locally is really meaningful,' Redd said. The association of locally grown, quality ingredients with luxury is nothing new — and has continued its trajectory ever since organic produce hit the shelves at higher price points, farmer's markets were popularized in major cities, and farm-to-table restaurants proliferated in search of Michelin stars. But now other elements of farm life and homesteading have become aspirational, too, as the lifestyle itself has become less attainable. According to the sustainable food systems thinktank IPES-Food, global land prices doubled from 2008-2022, with 1% of the world's largest farms controlling 70% of global farmland. At the same time, the number of farms worldwide has declined and is projected to continue shrinking. Aside from new luxury properties, agritourism has offered another revenue stream for existing, independent farms. In 2024, hosts of Airbnb farm stays in the US collectively earned over $500 million, the company said. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has credited the industry with revitalizing the Mediterranean's rural areas and boosting its local economies, while Japan's Farm Stay Promotion Plan has encouraged the same, offering traditional stays where guests learn to cook or ferment vegetables with local farmers among picturesque rice fields and mountain ranges. And in China, a 'rural revival' was accelerated during the pandemic, Rees said. With travel and quarantine restrictions, many Chinese urbanites headed outside of cities, fuelling a rural tourism boom, while influencers like Li Ziqi drew large followings to their posts about the idyllic countryside. Not all farm stays and eco villages are inherently expensive, and part of the luxury is finding an experience that's 'off the beaten track — almost like an if-you-know-you-know type of thing,' Rees added. Similar to China's rural tourism trend, the growing interest in farm tourism is partly due to pandemic travel restrictions, Rees explained, when more people sought out local retreats and open air away from major cities but closer to home. That shift in vacation patterns was important to the success of Wildflower Farms, Soong Rapoport noted, which opened in 2022. New York City residents left in droves and many looked north to the Hudson Valley area, with the small town of Hudson seeing the biggest change in net incoming residents out of all US metro areas, according to The New York Times. 'It was a harder story for us to explain to the general public before the pandemic. And so when we opened, I think a lot of people already got the benefit of it, and so it just made it catch on a lot more quickly,' she said. Rees believes that interest in other aspects of farming and off-grid living, such as growing a personal and sustainable food supply, has only grown since the pandemic. 'People were staying home more, but I also think it's very much tied to the preparedness movement and (the desire) to be much more self-sufficient,' she said. 'It's not really this niche thing. It's not like 'Doomsday Preppers' anymore.' Agritourism marks a departure in luxury tourism that is less about visible wealth and excess, according to Vittoria Careri, a marketing manager for The Hospitality Experience, which owns the Italian countryside escape Borgo dei Conti Resort. It aligns with the movement toward 'quiet luxury' in fashion. Like desiring fewer logos on clothing, resort stays don't necessarily need the ultra-expensive poolside bottle of champagne for a photo op. 'That concept of luxury now is old-fashioned,' she said in a video call. 'These types of customers are searching for something more genuine.' In Umbria, the 'green heart' of Italy, guests at Borgo dei Conti stay at a villa that was formerly the home of the late-Romantic Italian painter Lemmo Rossi-Scotti, and can spend their days suiting up to harvest honey with the property's beekeepers, following truffle-hunting dogs to discover a summer version of the delicacy, or picnicking among the verdant olive trees. At any price point, from multi-thousand-dollar stays to more modest accommodations, Rees credits the popularity of agritourism with the wider slow-living movement online (somewhat ironically promoted by influencers across TikTok) — a reaction to the stressors and pace of modern life and increasingly dense metropolises. And Rees says that while Millennials might be more associated with the trend, 'it's quite Gen-Z focused as well.' Careri believes that younger Italians have lost touch with something generational within their families, and now they are seeking it out once more. 'This kind of farming, (raising) the animals, is something our grandparents experienced. But now the new generations, they don't know it,' Careri said, adding that it gives them 'a sense of wonder.'
The Sun
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I go for days without seeing people….but I have my dog and cat for company, says Mary Chapin Carpenter
IN the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia lies the isolated farm where Mary Chapin Carpenter has made her home. 'I go for days without seeing people or talking to anyone,' says the singer, whose dusky, soulful tones and eloquent songwriting put her in such high regard. 6 6 'It's not for everyone but I love it. I've been training for this my whole life.' Yet she's not really alone. 'I have my dog and my cat for company,' she continues. Mary Chapin's 'dear' four-legged friends are her golden retriever Angus and her grey and white rescue moggy Big Kitty. So, I ask, does she ever get lonely? 'Oh for sure, who wouldn't?' she replies. 'But I've lived on the farm a really long time now. 'When I'm working on a project and I'm all in, I don't even notice that I didn't talk to anybody except when I went out to buy groceries.' Her rural idyll has four distinct seasons — scorching-hot summers, freezing-cold winters 'with lots of snow', beautiful budding springs and glorious golden autumns. 'I couldn't ever live somewhere that didn't have four seasons,' she decides. 'I need them to help me mark the passage of time.' It was in these surroundings that she sat at her kitchen table — Angus at her feet, coffee cup beside her, acoustic guitar within easy reach — and wrote her new album, Personal History. At 67, it was her chance to reflect on her life, think about who she is and tell her stories. I'm meeting Mary Chapin (it's a double forename, like Mary Beth) at a swish London hotel, a stone's throw from the hubbub of Oxford Circus. A stark contrast to the wilds of Virginia, she calls the dimly lit conference room 'rather bleak' but adds with a smile: 'It'll have to do.' Engaging and thought-provoking, she soon lights up the place by backing Bruce Springsteen 's fervent stance against the noisy incumbent at The White House. Like The Boss, Mary Chapin is unafraid to speak her mind. 'When people say, 'You're just an entertainer, be quiet', it's always offensive to me. 'Just because I've decided to write songs doesn't mean I've abdicated my role as a citizen. When I have something to say, I say it. 'But it can be very perilous so I'm proud that Springsteen has his platform. He's a kind, compassionate and smart person.' As for Donald Trump 's angry riposte, she adds: 'I think he was rattled by it — and good!' We turn to Personal History's first song, the 'mission statement' What Did You Miss. (In case you're wondering, there's more about Angus to come). Pondering life She draws my attention to the last verse with its lines, 'I've been walking in circles for so long/Unwinding the mystery/I've been writing it down song by song/As a personal history.' Mary Chapin had been 'pondering life' just as one of her favourite authors provided her with a dawning realisation. 'There's this moment in Elizabeth Strout's novel, My Name Is Lucy Barton, when the main character's creative-writing instructor says, 'You only have one story to tell but you will write it so many different ways'. 'When I read that, I took an audible breath and said out loud to no one, 'That's what my songs are!' ' Mary Chapin's recording career stretches back nearly four decades with efforts such as He Thinks He'll Keep Her and I Feel Lucky among her best-loved songs. She was a regular fixture in the upper reaches of the US country chart in the Nineties, a period that yielded big-selling albums Come On Come On (1992) and Stones In The Road (1994). I've had dogs most of my life, mostly golden retrievers. You get stuck on one breed. 'I think back to that time and it was like a white-hot light shining on my head,' she says. 'I've always had an uneasy relationship with that kind of attention. 'I was also incredibly ill-equipped to handle it. It was so overwhelming. 'Going to therapy gave me the help I needed to navigate it. Luckily, thankfully, I was surrounded by lovely people.' Underneath it all today is the same Mary Chapin Carpenter, an artist who stays true to herself yet more comfortable in her own skin. Returning to her new album, she says: 'It struck me that after all these years, however many songs I've written, they all come from the same place. 'It makes so much sense to me to think of them as my personal history.' Part of that history is Mary Chapin's abiding love of animals. 'I've had dogs most of my life, mostly golden retrievers,' she says. 'You get stuck on one breed. 'I believe they know what we're feeling — and who are we to say that they don't?' Thanks to his forebears' sperm being frozen and stored, Angus is a direct descendant of his owner's other dear departed retriever chums. He could be seen at Mary Chapin's side during the pandemic when she, like many musicians in lockdown, shared songs via YouTube from her home. 6 6 This helps explain new track Girl And Her Dog, which finds Mary Chapin intoning, 'Now the older I get the less I need/Just a good old dog underneath the trees.' It was inspired by an early-morning walk with Angus and comes with an intriguing backstory, which she describes. 'I love to walk in the fields near my farm but in summer, when it's tick season and it's full of them - ugh! 'So, before it's too hot, we head to these beautiful gravel roads that stretch for miles. 'Doing her own thing' 'It must have been around 6am when a vintage pick-up truck came up behind us so we stepped off the road to let it pass by. 'Through the cab window, I could see an older woman with salt-and-pepper hair tied into a long braid down her back. And two dogs.' At this point, Mary Chapin's imagination took over. 'As the woman drove by, I started making up a life for her. 'OK, so maybe she's a poet or a painter or a writer. Maybe when she's finished walking her dogs, she's going back to her house. 'Maybe she'll have another cup of coffee in the garden before it's hot and then she'll go back to working on a book.' The fleeting encounter got Mary Chapin thinking of her place in our uncertain world. It's such a gift to be able to appreciate the quiet things, the simplest things, the most minor things, She says: 'I'd just had a birthday — I'm in my sixties now — and I asked myself, 'Who am I? What am I doing?' ' First, she decided she wanted to be THAT woman on the gravel road 'doing her own thing'. Then she realised 'in the next breath' that, in a way, she already was much like her. 'After my walk with Angus, I knew I'd get back in my truck, go home, sit at my kitchen table and write. 'I love my home, I love the big trees in the yard (we'd say garden) — and my dog and my cat.' Things brings us to Coda, the elegiac album finale, which neatly sums up Mary Chapin's feelings. She says: 'I've lived through all these different chapters. 'The big noise of my life is not so loud as it was but there's still a rich vein to be mined. 'It's such a gift to be able to appreciate the quiet things, the simplest things, the most minor things. 'It's that moment in the morning at the arboretum. "It's the way the light falls against the back of the house. 'It's seeing my dog. 'Not everything has to announce itself in a huge way. 'But the last 40 years have been quite extraordinary and I'm so grateful for where I am. 'I wanted that song to express my gratitude.' Another new one, Paint + Turpentine is also about gratitude — but tinged with regret. It reflects on one of Mary Chapin's chief inspirations, the late, great Texan singer/songwriter Guy Clark, loved for songs like LA Freeway and Desperados Waiting For A Train. When she was just starting out as a twenty-something hopeful, Mary Chapin would go to The Birchmere club, not far from The Pentagon, just across the Potomac river from Washington DC. 'They were very kind to me there and I started to open for nationally known artists,' she says. 'The proprietor, Gary Oelze, knew I didn't have any money and he'd say, 'If you want to come down and see anybody, just call me and we'll sneak you in'. 'I saw Guy quite often. He would give a masterclass. 'One time. he invited me up to sing with him. 'There I was, spending time with this person whose art I revered. 'He was so kind to me.' Mary Chapin sighs and adds: 'Years later, when I had a record deal and was spending more time in Nashville, I heard from Guy, who said, 'Let's sit down and co-write'. 'Co-writing is something I've always been very poor at and I gave a reason why I couldn't make it. 'It's one of the greatest regrets of my life.' That said, she is tempted to 'let her younger self off the hook'. Perhaps with Paint + Turpentine, she has laid her regret to rest even if one of the lines is a direct reference to Clark's bittersweet The Randall Knife. 'Memory cut like a Randall knife/Felt like it went right through me.' It's important to note that Mary Chapin returned to a familiar stomping ground in the UK to record Personal History — Peter Gabriel 's Real World Studios near Bath. 'I have always loved coming over here,' she says. 'Years ago, I dated a wonderful man who lived in London, so I'd come back and forth. 'It's been a happy place for me.' 'Know thyself, right?' It may come as no surprise, therefore, that she brought her latest compositions to full bloom at the 'beautiful old mill' in the Wiltshire countryside, under the watchful eye of Bonny Light Horseman's Josh Kaufman. She first worked with him on her other record of 2025, Looking For The Thread, a gorgeous hook-up with Scottish folk singers Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis. From the first time I imagined I was in love with someone, I've been a bitter ender. And thanks to her connection to Josh, Anaïs Mitchell, feted for her album and stage musical Hadestown, joins Mary Chapin on Home Is A Song. 'I'm such a fan. My head exploded when Anaïs said yes,' she says. Before we go our separate ways, I ask Mary Chapin about the harmonica-fuelled Bitter Ender and what the tantalising song title means. 6 In response, she admits that she's not great at dealing with the end of relationships — including her only marriage, which lasted for ten years. Of the song, she says: 'That's me. Know thyself, right? Even when I know something has no future, I'll be clinging on. 'From the first time I imagined I was in love with someone, I've been a bitter ender. 'It makes me laugh now when people say, 'I'm a bitter ender, too!' We finally have a term for it.' One thing's for certain though — Angus will be waiting for Mary Chapin when she gets back to her farm in Virginia. That loving relationship will never have a bitter end. 6 ★★★★☆
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ellen DeGeneres shows off her new look and shares a glimpse into farm life as she gardens and feeds chickens after moving to the English countryside
Ellen DeGeneres shared a glimpse into farm life on Wednesday as she tended to her garden and fed chickens after moving to the English countryside. The former talk show host, 67, moved to the UK with her wife Portia de Rossi following Donald Trump's presidential win late last year in November. But Ellen and Portia recently relocated to a different property near Oxfordshire after their Cotswolds home suffered severe flooding shortly after moving in. However, they seem to have settled into their new home well as they shared snippets of their day-to-day life on the farm. Ellen cut a casual figure in brown trousers and a blue hoodie as she got to work with a grass trimmer, donning a protective mask. Portia filmed as she encouragingly quipped: 'Good job, baby' as Ellen got stuck into the gardening task. She also threw herself into trimming flower bushes in a field on their property, before the couple got to feeding their chickens. 'Come on chickens,' she shouted as she threw food at the animals who ran over to be fed. In the clip, Ellen also showcased her new hairstyle as she opted for natural brunette locks rather than her usual bleached blonde. She joked in the caption: 'Some people have a dream of becoming a farmer. Clearly our dream was to become a landscape maintenance crew with a little farming on the side.' It comes after Ellen shared another glimpse into her English life while taking on the task of mowing the grass. In the she sat on top of a yellow mower and revealed that she has ditched her signature blonde locks for a brunette shade. The star could be seen steering the mower through a large field as a layer of gray clouds filled the sky. Text was added towards the bottom of the reel which read, 'How it started.' The video then cut to Ellen being assisted by an individual after the machine seemingly broke down on a steep hill. She joked in the caption: 'Some people have a dream of becoming a farmer. Clearly our dream was to become a landscape maintenance crew with a little farming on the side' The clip concluded as more text popped up onto the screen which said, 'How it ended.' The comedian also penned in the caption: 'Portia thought it would be fun to film my first time on the mower. She was right.' Before opting for darker locks, Ellen had sported the blonde shade for years throughout her career. Ellen has previously given a rare look at her new life in England to her 136 million followers. Last month in April, she snapped a photo while standing behind Portia as they looked out at the scenic view of the countryside and a double rainbow following a rainfall. '3 things that make me happy: My Wife A Rainbow And my wife taking a photograph of a Rainbow,' she wrote. Back in 2020, Ellen was embroiled in controversy after being accused of creating a toxic work environment - and later issued an apology. After nearly two decades of being on the air, The Ellen Degeneres Show also came to an end just two years later in 2022. She previously told The Hollywood Reporter, 'I have to just trust that whatever happened during that time, which was obviously very, very difficult, happened for a reason. 'I think that I learned a lot, and there were some things that came up that I was shocked and surprised by. It was eye-opening, but I just trust that that had to happen.' She stepped in front of the camera once again for her 2024 Netflix special titled Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval. However upon its release, the project garnered mainly mixed to negative reviews and garnered a score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. A few months earlier in March of this year, Ellen took the big step of listing her Montecito property for $4,995,000. Less than two weeks later, the star's home sold for over the asking price at $5.2 million. People reported at the time that the two-bedroom, two-bathroom abode quickly went into escrow after receiving 'multiple offers within two days of hitting the market.' And back in January, Ellen and Portia had put an additional Montecito property on the market for $29.9 million. The couple - who tied the knot in 2008 - opted to move into an $18 million house in the Cotswolds area in the U.K. late last year. The reason the pair chose to relocate to the British countryside rather than Portia's home country of Australia was soon revealed. A source explained to New Idea, 'Ellen wants to continue with her comedy work, and there is a huge scene in Britain. 'Sitting back and chilling on a beach in Australia is for when she's ready to retire and Ellen's not there yet.' But after the move, their six-bedroom Cotswolds home was met with severe flooding due to Storm Bert. An insider informed MailOnline, 'Ellen and Portia have had several issues with the place they initially moved into. 'First there was the flooding, of course, then there was an issue with some locals complaining about some building work carried out at the property.' DeGeneres and Portia have since moved to a different property which is only a 30 minute drive from the original home that they had bought. A source recently told 'The house is a real Grand Designs number - and it's plain that Ellen and Portia are loving it.' They added, 'Everything has been done very discreetly so it's not clear what the terms of the deal was but it seems that it has recently changed hands for not much less than they paid for their previous place. 'To buy two properties for eight figure sums in the space of a few months really is unusual, even given the many multi-millionaires around here.' The source continued, 'And at even a conservative estimate it must have cost Ellen hundreds of thousands of pounds in fees and costs to change her mind so dramatically - perhaps millions.'
