Small Farm For Rent, Virginia

This farm has been rented, but please check out https://www.beginningfarmers.org/finding-land-to-farm/ for information about how to find other opportunities.

Small Farm for Nature Lovers for Rent -- 3 bedroom house w/ 4 outbuildings, 6 Acres -- Marion, Virginia

This small farm has great potential for a variety of things - including organic farming, goats, alpacas, horses, etc. The original structure is a 1900 farmhouse put up by one of the community's founding family members. It had an addition in the 1920's and another in the 1970's. Last year it was extensively renovated. It received all new electrical wiring (upgraded to a 200 Amp service) and 9/10ths new plumbing with upgrades to the heating system as well as some interior remodeling -- this work is being wrapped up currently. It was purchased to become the owner's dream retirement home, but we are unable to live it at this point and are looking for some potentially long-term tenants who would like to live here and love it as we do. The views are incredible, the neighborhood quiet with a few, but great, neighbors. From the house you can only see one other house in the summer and three in the winter. The property is next to a state park with a gorgeous lake and beach with swimming, boating, fishing, hiking and nearby hunting opportunities. It's also only 5 miles from I-81 and would be great for people who road travel often (musicians, etc.)

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Details: Home — 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom s.**The floor plan is terrific — roomy but efficient, it has 3 good-sized bedrooms with hardwood floors, plenty of closets, a formal dining room, a good sized kitchen with a nice layout and modern appliances, washer/dryer hook-ups on the main floor, a huge living room, a good-sized covered deck with a protected but outdoor storage area underneath, a side-walk around the rest of the house and out to the street, and a combination of basement, root-cellar and crawl-spaces underneath the home. The shingle and the tin parts of the roof were redone in the past five years and the roof has been resealed and is being painted this summer.

**– 1 bathroom may or may not be finished upon turning over to tenants as we are custom building it to be great and may not have it done.

Outbuildings — there are four in all — since we plan to make this our dream home and wish to come to the farm occasionally to work on upgrading things, we would like to keep one of the outbuildings for ourselves — which one is negotiable. All outbuildings are wooden with a tin roof, two have their own 60 Amp breaker boxes with overhead lights and outlets– one, the garage, has a woodstove.

1. Garage — near the house but separate — 1 car with a large workroom attached and an overhang. It has two large swinging bay doors and a single glass door, two windows, two large built-in counters, many hanging shelves, overhead storage, wood racks, it is hard-wired with 220 and 110 outlets with a concrete slab floor and a wood stove. It used to be used for an auto-mechanic/body /welding shop. Approximately 15×40

2. Barn — large 4 section shed-style barn that can easily be divided up. It’s in good shape. Approximately 12×40

3. Bunkhouse shed — wired with outlets and an overhead light, refloored this summer, one window with an incredible view. Great for guests or an office. Approximately 10×12

4. Shed — two sections one 8×10 the other 3×10 — both with a solid wood floor — great for storage and/or converting to a chicken coup on the small side.

Land: Almost 6 acres with some hills and some flat areas. There are some open areas, some treed areas and good shade trees around the house. The house sits next to a tree line that blocks the long side of it from the road. The smallest part of the house faces the quiet road, the deck faces only fields and beautiful views, and the backyard has an apple and a peach tree. Around the house is very nice landscaping with things that bloom all year, many edible &/or herbal/medicinal. The field has three springs, two upper ones that join to go through an area with two small waterfalls and on into and area we wish to develop into a pond and down to the creek that runs through the property by the barn below. The third spring creates a small pond at the base of the property. The fields are completely fenced — mostly with barbed wire. Goats and horses would do terrific here. The farm has a 30×40 goat starter pen as well that can be moved around the fields. There would never be a need to take water to your animals. No cattle are allowed due to the streams running into the state park’s lake. There is also a capped cave on the property — the last in the limestone ridge that ends just past this property. We hope to turn this into a sustainable farm with a stocked pond, livestock, edible plants, trees and garden beds. We do not want any chemical dumping on the property.

Utilities: The well is 3 years old and gives 20 gallons per minute! There is a valve that allows you to switch to spring water as well. The water tastes great! Trash and recycling get brought to the drop-off place about 1 ½ miles from the house. The heat is oil and the house has had all new insulation put throughout it and the underside of the house is being redone this summer as well.

Town: The town is small and safe and sweet with a great school system and the major most-common chains. Major shopping centers are less than an hour from the town. The house is 3 miles from the center of town and 5 miles off of I-81 but the setting makes it seem a lot farther away. It is conveniently located, yet private. There is a very good hospital in town with an excellent staff and a new one is being built currently.

From the first time we drove up, it felt like ‘home’ – now that we’re renovating and upgrading it’s a little heart-breaking to not be able to enjoy all the nice things we’re doing to it. Therefore finding someone who’ll appreciate it and know when to get help and possibly how to fix minor things is of great importance to us. Open-minded, respectful and honest tenants are what we are looking for. We are wrapping up renovating almost the whole inside of the house now, we are willing to take future renter’s wants into account when finalizing things. We hope to rewrap the house in Hardyboard in the next few years, for now we have been caulking and painting the current siding.

Rent: $750 — just above the mortgage price, we’re looking for the right people, not to make money, just to make payments and cover upkeep costs. We hope to rent it out by Aug. 1 but are somewhat flexible.

Serious inquiries only. Please email for an application and/or for information on how to see more photos.

• cats are OK – purrr
• dogs are OK – wooof
• Location: Marion, VA