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Historic Back Mountain farm to be owned by nonprofit group

KINGSTON TWP. – Within a week, officials of the Lands at Hillside Farms announced on Thursday, the historic farm will be purchased and under sole ownership of the nonprofit organization, unlocking a slew of dreams – while simultaneously setting up a series of challenging obstacles.

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Matt Deome, 15, tends to Caroline, a 2-month-old Jersey cow, at the Hillside Farm announcement of the acquisition of the 412 acre farm by a nonprofit group.

Fred Adams/for the times leader

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Hillside Farms in Kingston Township is being sold to the nonprofit Lands at Hillside Farms, it was announced Thursday.

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“The past four years have brought us through interesting times,” said Doug Ayers, a veterinarian and the chairman of the nonprofit’s board. “We’re guaranteeing when we’re done with this place, it’s going to be an attraction that people from foreign countries come to visit. There’s no question.”

The nonprofit envisions creating a series of self-sustaining “micro-enterprises,” as Ayers described them, that would “entice people to come here and spend money, and be glad they did.”

The ventures would pay for and publicize a mission to promote organic, sustainable agriculture, resource conservation and historical preservation. Among the ideas are a restaurant serving locally grown fare, a bed and breakfast that would double as a rentable site for private functions, a colonial living-history museum and educational facilities.

More than 100 jobs are expected to be created through the various outlets.

But it will require a lot of funding to get there. Chet Mozloom, the nonprofit’s executive director, estimated all the plans could cost $15 million. The Lands at Hillside Farms is about a third of the way there, having secured the $4.058 million it agreed to pay for the property to the Conyngham family, which has owned the 412 acres since a family ancestor from Philadelphia bought it in 1881, according to Ayers.

Ayers said he met with the family in January 2005 to pitch the idea of selling the farm to the public instead of selling it piecemeal as residential blocks. An agreement was entered into, in which the property was appraised and both sides agreed that the nonprofit would pay that price when it had raised the money.

The nonprofit met that by raising a little more than $2 million in private donations and public grants, along with a roughly $2 million loan from the Luzerne Bank. As part of that, the state awarded the project a $1 million grant from the state for redevelopment assistance, state Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, announced.

The funding, which will go toward buying the property and building the educational facility, requires a 50 percent match from non-state funding.

Ayers and other board members noted individual donations, as well as patronizing the farm’s dairy store, are now more important than ever.

“People think the dairy store is this huge source of income,” Ayers said. “I can’t tell you where we’re going to get all our money. I can only tell you that the trend has been positive toward our goal. … It’s not a natural tendency for the general public to give money to the family of coal barons,” alluding to the Conyngham family’s past role as a supplier of equipment to coal mining companies.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to earn the money as well as the public’s trust,” said Suzanne Kelly, a board member.

Mozloom said taking ownership of the property opens more options, such as connecting to the Back Mountain Trail that runs nearby, but noted that funding will play major role.

“The grants prioritize for you,” he said. “We have enough facilities here where we can do most of the things. … There’s not tremendous pressure to turn it over in months.”