We have one tour left this year: Saturday, October 12th
Sign Up is at the bottom of this page.
Time: Morning Tour: 10 -11:30am; Afternoon Tour: 1-2:30pm
Tour Costs: Adult $20 / Children under the age of 10, $10.
Family Bundle available for 2 adults and up to 3 children.
The Winding Stair Farm Mountain Location is located 12 miles west of Franklin at 7984 West Old Murphy Road, Franklin. It is also home to our Campground.
You and your group will be guided through the the working farm, which currently comprises Icelandic Sheep, our chickens, ducks and other fowl, and donkey, as well as our (NEW) mill.
What to expect:
The Sheep:
Our small flock of Icelandic sheep are rotated around the paddocks to maintain the pasture height and produce wool, occasional lamb meat, and registered ewes and rams for sale to other shepherds. Our Icelandic Sheep’s personalities make them a wonderful animal to work with.
Our sheep are very comfortable around humans and will happily eat grain, apples and other treats from your hands. We will have treats for you to give them for the tour, no need to bring your own!
The Mill:
Our mill was constructed over a number of years and is now fully operational. It was also featured in the prestigious Old Mill News in the summer of 2020 (read the article here).
The building design has a cantilever beam roof – an inspiration from buildings in the area from pioneers of the past. The extended roof perimeter would provide shelter for the family’s livestock without support posts. More than 50% of the timber used in the construction were felled and milled on site. Various pulleys and gear sets were acquired over time as they were advised of their existence from word of mouth or internet searching. The water wheel itself, bright red in color and 18 foot in diameter and powers two stone-burr mills.
The tour will include a working demonstration, including turning the water bypass on from Trough Branch (and highlighting the fish ladder that was incorporated as part of this project), experiencing the power of the water fill the wheel and see it begin to spin. We will also show you the inner workings of the various mills.
And more:
The farm and adjacent campground originally formed a logging site. We will give you a background, along with photos, of how the campground, farm and mill came to be.
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