Shelburne Farms

Established	1972
Location	Shelburne, Vermont
Coordinates	44°23′31.69″N 73°15′26.04″W / 44.3921361°N 73.2572333°W / 44.3921361; -73.2572333
Type	Nonprofit
President	Alec Webb[1]
Website	shelburnefarms.org
Shelburne Farms
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Area	1,339 acres (542 ha)
Built	1887
Architect	Robert Henderson Robertson
Architectural style	Tudor Revival, Queen Anne
NRHP reference No.	80000330[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	August 11, 1980
Designated NHLD	January 3, 2001[3]

Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit education center for sustainability, 1,400 acres (570 ha) working farm, and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. The property is nationally significant as a well-preserved example of a Gilded Age "ornamental farm", developed in the late 19th century with architecture by Robert Henderson Robertson and landscaping by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Description and history

Shelburne Farms was created in 1886 by Dr. William Seward Webb and Eliza Osgood Vanderbilt Webb as a model agricultural estate, using money inherited from railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt. They commissioned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to guide the layout of 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) of farm, field and forest, and New York architect Robert Henderson Robertson, to design the buildings. The estate was created by purchasing a large number of mostly agricultural properties, and then adapting the existing roads and lanes (some of which were public ways the Webbs petitioned to have closed) to fulfill the Webbs' vision for the estate.^[4] The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2001.^[3][2]

Shelburne Farms was incorporated as a nonprofit educational organization in 1972 by descendants of the Webbs. Nearly 400 acres (160 ha) of sustainably managed woodlands received Green Certification from the Forest Stewardship Council in 1998. The farm's grass-based dairy supports a herd of 125 purebred, registered Brown Swiss cows. Their milk is made into farmhouse cheddar cheese.^[5] The farm serves as an educational resource by practicing rural land use that is environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable.