Welcome to our "Homestead". We invite you to enjoy a beautifully appointed Colonial Farmhouse with updated amenities including strong WiFi.
This is a great opportunity to experience New England at its best. Enjoy the activities of a working horse farm. Imagine yourselves collecting fresh eggs from our hens. Visit our horses, walk around the property, dine together and sleep in comfy beds.
Read on & enjoy our pictures!
After an easy drive in from route 101, you will arrive at the farm gates and turn in the driveway where the Stage Coaches once rumbled on their arduous route between Boston & Montreal! Enter through the Stage Coach Waiting Room, then into the spacious Living Room with huge fireplace, where the families' meals were once prepared. Take a look at the cupboards where the ink and medicines were stored and the old crane which held the simmering pots back in 1754.
This elegant old home must have been a jewel in its day! Happily many of the unique features of the building have not changed over the years. Only five families have ever lived in this house for its 269 year long history. It has been well loved and cared for all those year
Thanks to a recent major restoration, you will find a large, fully appointed kitchen, dining room, living room with piano, sunroom and six bedrooms. The space is decorated in a traditional style with many lovely period pieces.
The Homestead has many unique historic features such as the original School Room, Indian Shutters, Wainscoting and lovely wide pine board floors. Best of all, it has an original hand painted Stenciled Room, believed to be the largest remaining intact room of its kind in New England. This room was recently featured in a documentary created by The Center for Painted Wall Preservation. The Board of Directors was happy to report that the quality of the preservation is still amazingly high. If you would like to hear more about the Homestead, just ask the Owner or the Stepping Stones team to get a fun, special tour to learn more of it's history!
The kitchen has new appliances and is stocked to serve up to 16 guests. It comes with a full set of informal and more formal dishware, as well as glasses of all kinds. It also has its own silver service. A dishwasher is at the ready, and a full compliment of cooking pots and pans make it fun for the whole gang to dish up a great meal. You will also find a gas grill to help you create outdoor delights. Tables in the garden during the warmer months for you to dine under the twinkling lights on a lovely summer evening.
The Homestead sleeps up to 16 people and is handicap accessible via the front entrance ramp. Two bedrooms are on the first floor as well as a fully handicapped accessible bathroom including a wheelchair accessible shower. The second floor has two full bathrooms and three bedrooms. The former school room is a large room with a Queen bed and two twin beds . The Overlook room, named because it looks out to the main barn, has two twin beds. The crowing jewel of the house is the historic hand Stenciled Room with a Queen bed. A sixth bedroom, called the Owl's Nest is above the kitchen. It has two twin beds and a twin bed with a Trundle, allowing for 4 guests to sleep in comfort with a half bath.
There is an inground swimming pool just outside the Homestead. A screened-in Gazebo overlooks the pool. While this is not a 'country club' pool, it sure does cool you off on a hot summer day.
The Homestead is located on a working horse farm. Currently, 16 horses call Stepping Stones Farm their home. You can enjoy watching them grazing out in the fields, snuggled in their stalls or being enjoyed by their owners.
We ask that guests do not enter the barns or fields without a staff member. Please ask for a complimentary, informal tour.
Yet another amazing feature of this property is the 3 story Bank Barn which is home to the horses. It is the largest intact Bank Barn this side of the Mississippi River! It can be accessed on ground level on each of its 3 stories because it is built into an earthen bank. We offer rooms on the second floor of the barn which can be reserved for breakout meeting rooms, Yoga space, art projects or simply gathering. The rooms are heated and can be used during all, but the most cold weeks of the year.
The house is surrounded by perennial gardens and has rolling lawns for games, carefree play and good family or friends' time together. Enjoy an old fashioned game of Horse Shoes or try your hand at Corn Hole, Crochet, Volley Ball, Badminton or Bocce. We offer a Fire Circle, with wood provided, where you can gather at night to watch the moon rise and the stars twinkle.
The farm is surrounded by many dirt roads which encourage both gentle strolls, longer walks, bike rides and runs. Exercise your body while enjoying being surrounded by the peace of nature! In winter, there are great places to snowshoe & cross country ski right on the farm. In the spring, enjoy watching the gardens start to come alive again and find where the birds are making their yearly nests. In summer, el fresco dining & the pool awaits. The fall is perhaps the most spectacular, with the glorious fall foliage and beautiful pheasants strolling around. The farm is magical in all its seasonal dress.
The farm is located in the quaint town of Temple. It is a beautiful rural & agricultural community with a center common, steepled Church, Town Hall & Country Store. For those who want to ski, cross country, snow shoe, bike, dine out or shop, there are many wonderful opportunities within easy driving distance. The Monadnock area is filled with so many interesting and fun things to do and see. Local farms sell milk, ice cream, cheese, maple syrup, honey, and all kinds of meats. We even have a local glass blower just up the road.
Let us serve you as "Country Concierge" to help you customize your stay so you can enjoy as much, or as little adventure and activities, as you wish.
For corporate groups, we have a large Smart TV with appropriate hook up, easels, podium and white board. We also have Break Out Rooms set up in the historic barn that allow for productive meetings or lecture style set ups.
We are pleased to offer 'add on' services to enhance your stay. These services include the following:
*Local Chefs who can prepare a special meal for you and your guests.
*Personal & Party sized Charcuterie and Meal Prep delivered to your door
*List of recommended , 'tried & true' caterers for meals delivered to you.
*Fully licensed massage therapist to bring her table and relaxing experience to you, during your stay.
*An experienced child care provider will come to the farm to watch the little ones so Moms and Dads can go out to dinner, take a nap or go on a hike to get some time together.
*Offsite limo transportation is available locally.
*All add on services, listed above may be provided for an additional fee.
Upon booking your reservation for the Homestead, our team will send you a detailed Welcome Package to help you plan your stay. This packet includes the names and contact information for the providers listed above. You will then contact them directly to arrange their services and pay them directly.
Please note due to the age of the house, we do not have air conditioning throughout! However, we do have two bedrooms that have AC units and you will find a fan in every room.
We go 'above and beyond' for our guests. As the owner, I live in a little Cottage right on site. I love greeting all guests and making them feel right at home. We also have other team members who serve as the Point of Contact for your stay. Our groundskeepers live nearby should your car not start or the power go out! Keys are available if guests desire but we are there to greet you instead of just providing a key in code! Ample parking is available right out your door.
This is a beautiful property that has been a working farm for the past 269 years, 56 of which has been in our family!!! We are a third generation on the farm. It has undergone extensive renovations over the last year to make it into a successful rental located on sustainable and environmentally responsible farm. We continue to make improvements to enhance our guests' experience.
We Love opening our doors for families and friends who want to stay together when they are gathering for such milestone celebrations as Weddings, Showers, Anniversaries or Birthdays. We also welcome those people who wish to have a private and inviting End of Life Celebration of a loved one. Please note however that we are not an event center for the actual wedding or reception.
The Homestead is also a great place to host a retreat. Many types of retreats have been hosted over the years which include wellness weekends, meditation retreats, Equestrian Stays/Clinics, writers' workshops, veterans' retreats, cooking weekends, yoga retreats, and spiritual church retreats. We love to provide a warm and welcoming space for important learning to take place!
The Homestead is also a great venue for Corporate Retreats. The farm offers excellent meeting and planning space that is private and invites connection. Let us help you advance the mission and vision for your organization here in a lovely, welcoming and professional space.
Upon booking, our guests receive a Welcome Packet of Information to help prepare for their stay.
One of our team members will reach out to you a week or two before your arrival to inquire if you have any last minute questions or requests. We will give you a guest contact number to call or text with your estimated time of arrival and when you are about an hour away from the farm. We like to have the lights on & a friendly face to greet you. We provide a little orientation to help guests settle in comfortably. We are then available if the need arrives but we know you want to spend time with each other and enjoy the Farm.
