“I’m a farmer at heart,” says Steve Wilson.
This is not the way most people would expect the creative founder of 21c Museum Hotels to describe himself, but Wilson, 72, is deep in spring pastures these days, having just completed the reimagining of the historic Hermitage Farm in Oldham County into a compelling agritourism destination. Here, visitors can encounter horses, relish farm-to-table food and bourbon, and enjoy art, nature and wildlife.
Wilson and his wife, Laura Lee Brown, concerned by the hodgepodge development eating up farmland throughout the county, purchased the well-known Thoroughbred farm in 2010.
“We were totally engaged at the thought of saving the historic Hermitage Farm from development,” Wilson says, noting that with their passionate commitment to conservation, the couple has placed conservation easements on 2,500 acres in the county.
Inside Hermitage’s landmark black fences, the two contemporary art enthusiasts have curated a multifaceted Kentucky farm experience with their typical boldness and unsentimental, tacit agreement to save and share, much as they did at their nearby Woodland Farm but with hands-on experiences and learning opportunities for visitors.
With their creation of eight 21c Hotels, Steve and Laura Lee are proven entrepreneurs, yet deep down, it is their love of farmland that commands the place. “We are deep conservationists masquerading as hoteliers,” Laura Lee says with a laugh.
How it Began
The tale of today’s reinvented Hermitage Farm is like so many stories in Kentucky. This one started with the owners’ respective experiences growing up on farms—hers a prize-winning Shorthorn cattle farm near Prospect, and his a river bottom along the Ohio River in Ballard County.
That’s where Steve first came to love horses and the crops and the soil. He was 15 when he decided horses would always be a part of his life. Riding horseback from the family farm near Wickliffe to the Kentucky State Fair that summer proved the point.
A half-century later, after a career in public relations and event planning—and also founding and growing a successful hotel chain—this award-winning equestrian’s love for horses and farming has come full circle.
In one of Steve’s famous light-bulb moments, it occurred to him that Louisville tourists and convention attendees must drive to central Kentucky to see a real horse farm. He pondered about the best way for these visitors to experience such a farm without the long drive.
What if there was a place near Louisville for a real equine experience? And what if that location also could tap into the bourbon industry (Laura Lee is part of the Brown-Forman family), create an authentic Kentucky farm experience, serve good locally grown food, and display art that could be at home in nature?
“Hermitage Farm is located only 16 miles east of Louisville on U.S. 42 and a few miles north of Interstate 71, just past La Grange,” Steve says, “so I began to think seriously of the possibility of this place becoming a real farm tourism attraction, an experience that takes all the wonderful features of a legendary horse farm and expands it to tell the story of Kentucky agriculture without sacrificing any of the existing historic buildings and landscape.”
Hermitage’s History
The roots of Hermitage Farm run deep. Gen. Hugh Mercer of Virginia came here 240 years ago to claim a land grant of more than 3,000 acres as a reward for his service in the Revolutionary War. Just four other families have owned the land in all the years since. History abounds in the main house, circa 1835. It started with a log cabin, an unusual horizontal corncrib and outbuildings.
Mercer’s family sold the land to John Henshaw, and it remained in the Henshaw family until 1935, when Warner Jones Jr. acquired it. A renowned Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Jones guided the farm in its successes through much of the 20th century, launching integral crop diversification measures that pivoted hay and grain fields to a horse farm. Jones bred numerous stellar Thoroughbred racehorses, including 1953 Kentucky Derby winner Dark Star.
Those were the years that Hermitage Farm cast a long shadow on horse racing at Churchill Downs and Keeneland Race Course, and then across the nation and even internationally. Queen Elizabeth came to look at horses and have tea at the farm in 1986.
Horseman Carl Pollard purchased Hermitage Farm in 1995, following Jones’ death the previous year. Pollard owned the property until the 2010 sale to Steve and Laura Lee.
Much More Than a Horse Farm
For Laura Lee and Steve, Hermitage has been a labor of love from the start. No longer just a horse farm, these days the 680 acres are a large-scale, carefully organized bevy of farm experiences. The miles of black plank fences hint of the farm’s rich horse racing history.
“Steve is never happier than when he is masterminding an event or experience to entertain and please others,” says Matthew Bailey, Hermitage Farm director. “He is always the most creative, imaginative person in the room; that is his blessing and our challenge.
“These days, I can’t help but think this farm is so real and full of experiences, but if someone else had bought it, there would be houses here by now.”
At the axis of the farm’s main entrance, visitors are greeted by a giant Corten steel sculpture, “Here and Where” by French artist Jean Dupuy, standing boldly against the horizon.
One immediately sees the lush pastures with horses grazing. There’s the main house up ahead and, to the left, the big, red-trimmed black stud barn, where a world-class collection of antique carriages is housed, including one used in Gone With the Wind that has the MGM label still attached.
The new visitors center, a gathering and orientation spot also housing a gift shop, is tucked into a landscaped swale apart from the historic farm outbuildings that gracefully engage with the land. Other black barns house tack and memorabilia of the farm’s champion horses, each item a piece of museum-worthy equine history.
There’s already a huge buzz about the unusual restaurant in Barn8 (yes, that is its historic name), with its Kentucky-inspired menu, communal dining options, and charming, old wood paneled stalls repurposed into private dining spaces. The upper-level Hayloft event space—with a 20-foot crystal chandelier and a massive window opening to the gardens, woodlands and art walk below—can seat up to 200 guests.
A breathtaking 3,400-square-foot custom greenhouse overlooks the wildflower and native grass nature walk along a branch of Harrods Creek.
“Barn8 is a restaurant that daily demonstrates the importance fresh local food plays in our lives,” Executive Chef Alison Settle explains. “There’s real joy to preparing food when there are gardens nearby and a real greenhouse designed for growing and experiencing the pleasure of eating in the same enclosed glass space.”
Steve’s goal to include a bourbon experience is realized with the wall of barrels from select Kentucky distilleries and tasting bourbons handpicked by Hermitage’s certified bourbon steward, Adam Walpole.
“So many consumers fail to realize bourbon is an agricultural product,” Walpole says. “Selecting and sipping bourbon near real farm fields of corn and grains that go into the product is an eye-opener.”
The Barn8 team, from left, Bourbon Steward Adam Walpole, Horticulturist Stephanie Tittle, Executive Chef Alison Settle, Director Matthew Bailey, Owner Steve Wilson, and Food and Beverage Director Erin Delaney
Architect Haviland Argo, who has been the project manager for reinventing Hermitage Farm, sums it all up: “The land and the animals and the gardens and the restaurant are all viable agriculturally, but the aesthetic, teaching and learning elements are just as complete, showing visitors how history and farming and biodiversity coexist on a farm.”
Acres of land across the Commonwealth being eaten up by development make for an old story, but Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown are giving this tale a new ending. It is their intent that Hermitage Farm, retooled, helps people pay attention and think about the long-term repercussions of the loss of farmland.
Oldham County Farm Experiences
In addition to Hermitage Farm, Oldham Farm Tours showcases 13 other locales May-October, and visitors will find more than a couple of destinations that engage their interest. Guests can stay on a horse farm, milk a cow, feed a baby lamb, make an alpaca souvenir, pet retired racehorses and visit a botanical garden.
Second Stride Retired Horse Farm offers a tour that enables visitors to get up close and personal with award-winning horses available for adoption. A Hallmark movie favorite, Windy Meadows horse farm features hands-on tours that showcase several horse breeds and include the lead character in the 2018 movie, Orphan Horse.
Acorn Lane Farm and Petting Zoo at Boone Gardiner has a tour that focuses on plants, animals and honey-making that are a part of the 11-acre farm. Guests at Bluebonnets and Bluegrass Alpaca Farm can climb into the pen with alpacas, then learn the process of felting as they make a souvenir.
Hemmer Hill Sheep Farm raises purebred and registered St. Croix hair sheep from the Virgin Islands, and those taking a springtime tour may get to feed a baby lamb. At the same time, Woodland Bison Farm offers a wagon tour overlooking the Ohio River that teaches about pasture-raised bison, heritage pigs, organic produce and heirloom orchards. Visitors can marvel at the enormous fluorescent rabbits and hot pink snails in the trees—examples of the fascinating contemporary art on the farm.
Organic farming is alive and well at Rootbound Farm, a certified organic farm that produces vegetables and Katahdin sheep for its community-supported agriculture program and farmers markets, as well as Louisville’s best farm-to-table restaurants.
For a complete list of Oldham Farm Tours, visit TourOldham.com.