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History of East Hill Farm: The 1980s

What a journey the past 74 years have been! From the early days of housing only 30 guests, to our current capacity of 140, we have been fortunate to meet and make many lifelong friends that call East Hill Farm their home away from home. You are truly our extended Farm family!

The Inn at East Hill Farm will be celebrating our 75th Anniversary during the weekend of February 4-6, 2022. As with all celebrations, it is more fun to have your friends and loved ones to celebrate with. Please mark your calendars and consider joining us for this momentous occasion!

We will be sharing photos, behind the scenes, and fun stories in a series of monthly blog, Instagram, and Facebook posts leading up to the celebration. While the Inn’s history dates to 1772, we are focusing on what it has been since right after WWII, an agritourism destination.

We pick our story back up in the 1980s…

During the 1980s, The Inn at East Hill Farm saw tremendous growth, with the addition of many buildings and attractions. Here are some of the highlights.

In the early 1980s Trailsend was constructed. It was built with families in mind as each set of rooms connects on the inside, perfect for a family. There are two living rooms where families can gather to visit. There is a heated outdoor pool and hot tub in front of Trailsend and unbeatable views of Mt. Monadnock.

In 1982, Dave and Sally Adams purchased the Brick House which is about a mile down the road from the Inn. Over the years each of their children have lived in the house for a time and currently, the brick House is used for overflow housing for the Inn. Many guests over the years swear that the house is haunted and enjoy staying there with the spirits.

The tennis court was also constructed in 1982. This added another way for guests to stay active while at the farm. There have been many tournaments and friendly rivalries held there over the years. You can sometimes find guests playing pickle ball there. The view is just spectacular, and the sheep and goats will help you keep score.

(Marshall, Dave, Sally)

In 1985-1986, the Grandmother’s Attic section of the Main Inn was constructed. This addition included the three-bedroom guest accommodations known as Grandmother’s Attic, a public space known as Grandmother’s Attic living room with restrooms, gift shop and the office, which moved from the Adams’ house to where it currently is today. A major advancement at this time was the addition of a computer system for reservations. Up until that point, Sally did the reservations, mailing lists and related documents by hand. This DOS based program was in use from the mid-1980s until recently when a new custom web-based program was developed and introduced. I am sure many of you remember this DOS program as it was frequently commented upon by guests!

The Adams’ house with former office

The farm animals and horseback riding program continued to expand, and the animals were outgrowing the barn. A large addition was added including hayloft, horse stalls, tack room and shavings room. This is the current horse barn. The addition allowed the smaller barn to be converted into a cow barn with milking stanchions and the layout has flexibility in how the pens can be configured for different needs throughout the year.

A variety of new activities grew with the expansion of the physical facility. During the winter, the Inn held several youth cross-country ski races on our ski trails. Guests staying at the Inn enjoyed hot cocoa in the warming hut that was along the blue trail.

In the summer, guests continued to fill the Inn’s expanding rooms and the activity schedule continued to grow, now including crafts and other games; for example, during July 4th week, Ray Linscott and Tino Minichiello officiated the Annual 4th of July Bocce Tournament, a tradition that continues to this day.

Stay tuned to the next post for a peek into East Hill Farm in the 1990s.

Visit our previous blog Make Hay While the Sun Shines here.

Submitted by Holly

12 Comments

  1. Sam and Karen on November 26, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    Working at the Inn new Years Eve 1980. -20• that evening, midnight kiss to a waitress and married her several years later. Yet another EHF successful romance

    • Jennifer on November 26, 2021 at 7:06 pm

      Awwww…another EHF love story.

  2. Jean Sacco Linda Dube on November 26, 2021 at 7:01 pm

    Johnny Jean Sacco, family Linda Kate, Lisa, Carol, came in the 80’s with the Cry’s, Marion’s, Therians, David Dube, Solovis Maximus, 😍😅Sacco family Danvers/Salem, MA Dube Peabody, MA family Jaffrey NH Hope Dave😍Sally are well children are well tooBlessins at Thanksgiving 😇Christmas too
    Jean Sacco jwsc@gmail.com 978-852-5622 would like to come in February 2022, yet I am 81 now? Linda, Dave, Rachael Ian are older now with children of there own lindajeandube@gmail.com

    • Jennifer on November 26, 2021 at 7:09 pm

      We remember you all well! Dave, Sally, Sheri, Jennifer and Marshall are all well and still at the farm. We hope you you are able to join us for another EHF vacation.

  3. Millie and Mike Ennis on January 22, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    Our first visit to “The Farm” was over the July 4th weekend of 1979. The friends we met that weekend are still folks we get together with to this day – The Fenochetti, Stander and Skryness families. We are now into the 3rd generation of close ties with these families.

    Our last visit was in 2018 to celebrate Mike’s 70th birthday. So many warm and wonderful memories over the decades. We are grateful to that little news article The Boston Globe printed to alert us to this gem of a family run farm dedicated to family fun!

    • Jennifer on January 23, 2022 at 8:52 am

      We sure appreciate your patronage over the years! You are truly part of the Farmily!

  4. Sandie Murphy on January 23, 2022 at 11:21 am

    Us MURPHYS (15 of us ) are looking forward to re-visiting THE FARM in AUG 2022..,our family has been to the farm many times over the years as the children grew…, and again a few times with our GRANDCHILDREN, giving them the same experiences their parents had. The “grandkids” are now young adults, some just graduating college, heading off into another phase of their lives. SO, after many times reminiscing, we BOOKED our FARM REUNION! Thank you for your hard work in making so many HAPPY MEMORIES for families! See you in AUGUST !

    • Jennifer on January 23, 2022 at 11:58 am

      We are so happy your family will be gathering at East Hill Farm this summer! We look forward to seeing you all and helping you create more farm memories.

  5. Holly Muggleston on January 26, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    We were chatting in the office today about our childhood vacations. I have to say; my most fond memory of all family vacations was at Inn At East Hill Farm. I am going back gosh at least 40 years. We stayed in a cabin and it was so adorable. I remember riding the most beautiful horses and how wonderful that staff was back then. We had so much fun with meeting new families from all over as far as New York; that was a big deal to us back then. And I remember those fritters. My little brother and I had so many of those. You cannot imagine how good. You should bring your family to this farm. I will always treasure those times as a child.

    • Jennifer on January 26, 2022 at 4:33 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing some of your EHF memories. Some of those cabins are still here (7,8 & 9) and of course the fritters! I hope you are able to visit us again and relive some of your childhood memories.

  6. Pam Zottos on August 8, 2024 at 9:47 pm

    During the late 1980s, I spent time at the Inn with my mother and father. I can still vividly recall our cabin, the view of Mount Monadnock, the dining room for meals and the riding program I attended each day. I fell in love with a white horse named Gypsy, cried the entire way home when it was time to leave her. I need to make an effort to visit again with my husband and two daughters!

    • Jennifer on August 10, 2024 at 1:01 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing your memories. I remember Gypsy well. I hope you and your family are able to visit us soon.
      Jennifer

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