Nestled in the hills of southern Shelburne, Foxbard Farm traces its history to pre-Revolutionary times.  Enoch Bardwell, an earlier farmer, and his son Enoch Jr. settled in the Foxtown area of Shelburne around 1771.  Twenty years later the two joined their farms along Bardwells Ferry Road to form what is now Foxbard Farm.  Enoch Jr.’s youngest son, Solomon Bardwell, built our brick house, designed by Asher Benjamin, in 1812. 

The main barn, 100′ long, a massive U-shaped structure, was built by the Andrews family in the 1880’s.  The 12″ by 12″ chestnut beams and the wide pine-board siding doors were cut from the forests on nearby Shingle Hill.  Three generations of Andrews lived in the brick house and worked at the farm until 1943, when Ed Andrews sold the property to Samuel and Jeanette Payne. Over the years Foxbard Farm has supported a variety of agricultural products including dairy and beef cattle, hay crops, apples, vegetables, cordwood, and timber.  

Producer of Black Angus

Samuel Payne started a Black Angus herd in 1967 and by the early 1980’s hosted various New England Angus sales.  Samuel’s second son, John Anderson Payne and his wife Margaret moved to Shelburne in the late 90’s to run the family farm. John implemented a farming plan focused on producing high quality Angus beef for local markets. He raised a herd of over 100 Angus, mostly pure bred, and marketed about 40 steers each year to individuals, families, restaurants, and food markets in our local area. Following John’s passing in 2018, Margaret and her children continued to produce Angus beef for a number of years until closing down the business in 2022 to focus on land preservation and conservation. Although the farm no longer produces Black Angus for sale, you will still see plenty of these majestic animals around the property grazing, frolicking or even taking a nap in the afternoon sun.

Forestry Management

With the construction of a sawmill in the early 2000’s, the Foxbard Sawmill cemented the sustainability of year-round operations by enabling the farm to effectively execute on its forestry management plan. Our forests produce cordwood, custom work, framing timbers, pine boards, and soft and hardwood logs.