About the Farm

Paris Mountain Farm is a 648 acre farm located on original Monacan Confederation homelands. In 1752, when SW Virginia was the western wilderness of the American colonies, the farm was part of a 4000 acre land grant deeded to Colonel James Patton by by the British King George II. The following year, James Patton sold the property to one John Robinson, Jr., a miller and member of an extensive early settler family in the area. Robinson built a one room log house with a loft around 1779, which is now incorporated into the current house. He and his heirs added two more rooms to the house, in 1800 and 1818 respectively. In 1838 James Fulton Hoge purchased 872 acres for $435 and he and his wife, Eliza Johnston Hoge began to convert the house to a larger plantation style house using the labor of enslaved people—a harsh fact about the property which the current owners are determined not to erase.

Over the years the farm has been known by various names, including Riverdale Plantation, Flying Duck Farm, Plank’s Farm, and Hickory Hill Farm. It was once owned by Floyd Plank, a prominent local businessman, and also by Dr. T. Marshall Hahn, the Virginia Tech president from 1962-1974. It’s now called Paris Mountain Farm, named for the mountain out back. Early owners raised hogs and other livestock, flax, wheat and hemp, again some employing the labor of enslaved people. Through the 20th Century, the farm was primarily a cattle farm. Currently, the owners raise industrial hemp, grow extensive gardens of herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables, and lease much of the pastureland to Ellett Valley Beef Company for grass-fed beef production. They are using the regenerative agricultural method of mob grazing to capture carbon and replenish topsoil. The owners also are working to re-wild certain areas, protect wetlands, and they plant new trees every year. The entire farm is placed under a conservation easement to preserve and protect it in perpetuity.