Called Home: How Sacred Hill Farm Began

I remember years ago watching the movie We Bought A Zoo with my husband and son when an overwhelming feeling came over me. Especially the scene where the family had overcome all of these obstacles (financial, familial, the unknown) to finally open their zoo. They had made it and it was opening day but no one was at the gate. Unbeknownst to them, a storm had blown down a large tree blocking the road entrance. Then the scene occurred where the kids went running down the road to discover not just the tree, but a trove of people standing and waiting, ready to pay for their tickets to come support this family and everything they had fought for.

That family worked so hard for something they believed in and the community showed up to support them. With wide eyes and an open heart I kept thinking - I want that… I want a place where I can live with and care for animals. Where routine and systems are important in an ever changing landscape of personalities, education, human and animal interaction, community and life. It felt so real when I placed myself in that scene. Just this sense of connection and peace, and of coming home. I don't think I realized it at the time, but in that moment, a small ember sparked in my heart. And over time, I kept coming back to that movie, to everything that led up to that scene and all the possibilities that could follow, and that ember kept growing…

I've led an interesting life (to me anyway). I always chuckle when I hear someone, especially a child, say they're bored. My problem has never been boredom, it's always been that there are too many things I want to do, to learn, and experience, and never enough time to fit it all in.

So with that… I have ventured down many paths in life - bartender, instructional designer for retail sales for the cruise industry, behind-the-scenes Disney tour guide, restaurant owner, holistic nutritionist, health and wellness curriculum developer, cocktail tonic and bitters company founder, herbalist, corporate restaurant trainer, and ghost tour guide. I have enjoyed and grown through every experience and path I have travelled. But through it all, something keeps calling me forward. It's that sense that each experience in my life has been placed intentionally - expanding me in ways that prepare me for the next venture, or finally being called home.

In 2011 my husband and I opened a restaurant. Well he wasn't my husband at the time. In fact, the restaurant opened two weeks before we got married. I made him promise that the moment our wedding guests came into town, he would be fully present with our family and let our partners hold things down until we said I Do. He definitely kept his promise and within less than 24 hours of our vows, he was right back into the full time, day and night swing of it.

We made that commitment together with full awareness of the sacrifice restaurants require. You see, we had actually met because he hired me as a corporate trainer for a restaurant franchise he founded and so we knew exactly what we were signing up for. And it was 13 years of our lives that I wouldn't trade for anything. There were times I wish we had done things differently, but looking back, there were lessons that needed to be learned, and personal growth that needed to occur. And I'm not sure we could have become who we are without the scars and battle wounds that we accumulated over those long and fast 13 years.

But there comes a point when times change and you have to move on. After raising a child in the industry and growing the brand to multiple units and concepts, it became too much. Vaughan's health was taking a serious turn. My stress wasn't decreasing. He was burnt out and there was something in me that just kept calling, and it wasn't the restaurant industry.

During this time I had fallen deep into herbalism, studying at Traditions School of Herbal Studies, and had completed my master in holistic nutrition, (because running restaurants didn't already fill all my time). Again, so many things that are just too interesting to ignore.

Aligning our families food values with the Weston A. Price Nourishing Traditions, I yearned for more access to organic, grassfed, and truly nourishing foods. But working in an industry where margins are tight and consumer expectations are specific, there was a growing disconnect between what we had created and my core values. But boy did I try to provide my own sense of purpose. I started incorporating medicinal plants in our cocktail and mocktail program and fought battles with our chef about sourcing and recipes - like removing the red food coloring from our Peking Duck even if it isn't as "pretty" to the consumer. Yet the gap kept widening.

But time was telling and Vaughan and I knew that if we continued in this industry the way we were going, there would be no positive end to it. So we had some very hard conversations and decided that we needed to leave the industry. We played out every scenario, including the one where we walked away with nothing, starting completely over from scratch. I remember that conversation vividly and it wasn't a hard decision for either of us. Vaughan had already spent a terrifying night in the ER, and living in south Florida, I had already quietly let go of every expectation I'd ever held about what our life "should" turn out to be.

Now, Vaughan and I are not religious, but if we were, I suppose this is the point where you would say we gave it all over to God. We decided that the health and wellbeing of our family was what mattered most, and starting over doing something we love together would give us that wholeness we craved - even if it meant starting from nothing. So we both let go of it all - expectations, plans and every hope we'd held out for our businesses. We called a good friend to see what our home could sell for and started making plans to move in with my folks, letting everything unfold as it would.

"What's comin', will come, an' we'll meet it when it does." — Hagrid

My favorite quote is that one, by Hagrid near the end of the 4th Harry Potter book. And just like that, our lives changed course entirely.

Our realtor friend mentioned his family was thinking about moving to NC, and the second he left our home I looked at Vaughan and thought - that's it!

I couldn't get the thought of the Blue Ridge Mountains out of my mind, or any mountains for that matter. This wasn't entirely new. In 2020, since the world shut down, I turned 40 and all our original epic birthday plans had evaporated. About two months before my birthday Vaughan asked, "well, what do you want to do." I immediately thought, I've never been to the Pacific Northwest but ever since I first heard about that area I've been yearning to visit. So with nothing but a flight there and home we went on the most incredible, unplanned, fly by the seat of our pants adventure - hiking, exploring, and no agenda. That trip changed our world. We came back to Florida itching to hike wherever we could and both of us knowing that at some point we had to move there.

"The mountains are calling, and I must go." — John Muir, 1873

There it was, another ember had started in my soul. For years something had been pulling me toward the PNW specifically, but after that brief conversation about NC, I realized it was never about the state. It was about the mountains.

Within 24 hours we had talked to my folks about leaving Florida and heading somewhere in the Appalachian range. After looking at a map and realizing that Washington State is further north than Maine, I decided there was no way I could handle that much cold - nor could the rest of my family. Over dinner we mulled it over, and I could see those same embers lighting up in the souls of my family around that table. Something gently pulling, yet sturdy enough that it couldn't be ignored.

And that was it. By the next day my parents had called, "With or without you, dad and I are moving to the mountains!"

Ha! I thought this was going to be our decision! They had decided for us and we were all completely on board.

Oh! And the best part.. As if the Universe wanted to confirm we were on the right path, we had a buyer at the table for our portion of the restaurants! We honestly couldn't believe it. We had a buyer and were selling our home, which meant we'd have enough breathing room to think and plan without feeling desperate to settle or survive.

This is when things got really fun.

Now we had two families moving and we had no idea what that was going to look like. Would we be able to find two homes close together? Would we both get what we hoped for? Would we live together? What would we do for income? We are starting over so what does that look like? How in the world was all of this going to work? My dad had been retired for several years and mom was within months of retirement so I do believe timing for them was pretty poignant. Vaughan and I knew we had a little cushion to not have to rush but not enough that we could sit idly by.

And then there it was… that ember was now burning and I could NOT ignore it.

I believe intentions are powerful, and clarity gives the Universe a road map. So I suggested that each of us - mom, dad, husband and child - write out a list of what we each wished for in a new home. To truly daydream. To put the heart first, and let the head step aside. The objective was simple. If you could have anything within the confines of mountain life, what would you want?

What do you dare to dream of?

We tell children they can be or do anything, to dream big. But when, as adults, do we ever give ourselves that same permission? We were blessed to be handed that chance. We could approach it analytically, hedging our bets, focused on what could go wrong. Or we could, at least for a little while, hand the reins to our heart. To be led by love instead of fear.

And so we wrote. Making lists with our heart of where we wanted to live and what it would look like. All of a sudden, the world felt wide open again.

The mountains were calling, and so were the plants and the animals. Since my parents had moved to Florida I started spending time with my mom talking about and growing plants. I said to her, "Wouldn't it be great if we could start a nursery?" Then the ideas just started flowing… I loved baking and knew this was an opportunity to up my sourdough game, maybe have a little roadside stand. My parents were already bringing their three chickens, there was no way they were leaving those girls behind. And Vaughan could build me that quail aviary I've been wanting… and… and…

Oh my God. I can get GOATS!!

What a great way to provide dairy for our family and others. Well when you have goats and chickens and quail, you need a livestock guardian dog. And we definitely need an orchard and maybe we could raise rabbits for meat like we did when I was young.

That was it! The Universe had spoken and there was no going back. Our homestead was decided. And it's like when you know something important, you can never unknow it. It's the same when you dream something you can nearly touch, there is no returning to before.

Well we all wrote in our journals. Our dream home and what it would contain. The land that we wanted. The space that we needed. We divided our lists into non-negotiables and wishes. Vaughan and I's top non-negotiables were a nature-based or alternative school for Bassil, and no more than a thirty minutes from a city with good food. We may have stepped away from the restaurant industry (for the time being), but were not willing to sacrifice great food. Bassil just wanted a treehouse. (It's on our Spring to-do list.)

We found a realtor, handed him our lists, and let everything unfold. We looked from Tennessee to Virginia, found a couple homes to look at in Western North Carolina and decided to spend a week in WNC to check out some properties. We realized quickly it would be easier to find one large home we could divide into two living spaces than to find two separate homes near each other. Fortunately Vaughan and my mom could both see potential where I could not. I can walk into a space and it either feels right or it doesn't, but I cannot see past walls that need to come down.

So by the time we made it up, several homes on our list had gone off the market. But we did see enough to know what would and wouldn't work. So back home to Florida we went. Within a week of being back, the first home on our list came back on the market. Our realtor called, we had him FaceTime a walkthrough, and Vaughan and I looked at each other and we both immediately knew. We flew up the next day, FaceTimed my folks, realized the basement could be completely rebuilt into a second full living space and we were on our way.

Funny thing is.. if this house would have been available the first time we visited, I don't think we would have seen it the same way. We needed to look at the others first. We realized after that initial house hunt that we needed to rework our lists and let go of some of what we thought we had to have. Only then could we see this home for what it truly was.

So here we are.

Well after moving in, building a barn, fencing off land, establishing gardens, hauling in soil for an orchard and completely remodeling downstairs - we are on our way. A bigger dream than I could have dreamed alone. All those crazy paths and interests I have chased throughout my life to all converge on this. Food and plants as nourishment and medicine. Living in coherence with the mountain and community where I can give and continue to learn. Contributing to this ecosystem we are so grateful to thrive in.

Living and working alongside my parents, learning skills they have spent a lifetime building. Teaching our son how to nourish the land, the animals, and his own soul.

This is the greatest gift I could ever give him - not the earth skills, but the listening to the embers that will burn in his own soul. And to follow them without apology.

And being called home - to this sacred hill we have landed on.