Supplements: Horses, their love, training and care, have always been an important part of WindHorse Farm. The 25 acre fenced pasture with walk-in-sheds is a perfect place for horses, sheep, cattle or maybe even alpacas and llamas. A large garden would be easily established in the rich soil located at both of the homes. The forest is deep and cool and has not b ... (Read more) Horses, their love, training and care, have always been an important part of WindHorse Farm. The 25 acre fenced pasture with walk-in-sheds is a perfect place for horses, sheep, cattle or maybe even alpacas and llamas. A large garden would be easily established in the rich soil located at both of the homes. The forest is deep and cool and has not been harvested since Eisenhower was president in the 1950′s. Being a mature forest, moss and lichen cover the stones and cliff outcrops and the large oak and hickory produce tons of acorns and nuts for the deer, squirrel and turkey. The songbirds, woodpeckers, owls and hawks also love this forest and the morning and evening is a special time to sit and listen to the birds singing. The historic home sits under the umbrella of a 100 year old sugar maple tree. Known locally as the Old Oliver Ballard Place, the home is thought to have been built sometime in the late 1800's with a hand-cut and native field stone chimney added in 1923. This home has been fully renovated and is in move in condition. Two art studios, original root cellar, woodshed and a loafing shed for the horses round out the additional structures. The custom built New House was constructed in 2009. Designed for easy country living and entertaining friends and family, the open floor plan compliments the rich mixture of warm wood and over sized windows. Trees harvested from the property, including black walnut, red oak and tulip poplar were used in the paneling, kitchen cabinets, doors and the stairway. Even an ages old shed was reclaimed and the vintage chestnut lumber was used in making the custom cabinets and doors as well. The siding is Cypress, with is naturally rot and insect resistant and needs no special care. The flooring throughout the home is cork, which is resilient and needs no special upkeep, is easy on the legs and deadens sound as well. On the first floor, there is radiant heat that keeps the floor warm and the rooms cozy in the winter utilizing a propane boiler to heat the water circulating beneath the cork floor. All the windows in the home are extra high efficiency and the home is situated so as to capture the solar gain during the winter months but designed with wider eaves to reduce the gain during the summer. The upstairs is heated and cooled with its own heat pump unit which also helps cool the downstairs as the cold air sinks to the ground floor. The screened in sun-porch is one of the favorite rooms of the home. Just off the kitchen, this room is where everyone gravitates to in the mornings and evenings for cups of coffee and to sit and chat. It is also a great place to catch a nap during a summer thunderstorm. The gardening room is fully enclosed in windows and is floored with river stone. Upstairs off the master bedroom is the jetted spa tub. This is a most relaxing space as there is a long view of the mountains here. The forest has some 80-100 year old trees of black cherry, sugar maple, hickory, Atlantic white cedar and tulip poplar. Two blue-line streams, one with a small waterfall, and several ephemeral streams, run through the farm and forest. Squirrels, deer, and turkey make their home in this forest and just about any morning they may be seen feeding and foraging. The songbirds, owls, hawks, blue jays and cardinals also enjoy the forest and their songs are a pleasant addition to the peace and quiet found in this lovely area of Monroe County. THE AREA WindHorse is located 4 miles southeast of Greenville in the heart of Monroe County. There are two convenience stores within a 5 minute drive, one in Greenville and the other near the intersection of Rt 122 and Rt 219. Greenville is a special community with interesting folks, both born and raised and newer members from many different states. People from all walks of life reside in harmony in this lovely pastoral setting. Often, there is a community get together to cook out and listen to a live band at the restored grist mill. Roadsides are kept clean through community involvement and neighborhood watches are common in the area as well. The charming village of Union, which is the Monroe County seat, is just a 20 minute drive. Banking, healthcare facilities, drugstore, grocery shopping and a great family restaurant are readily available. Some of the friendliest people in West Virginia can be found in Monroe County. Monroe County has a population of about 13,000 residents and does not have a stoplight and has more cattle and sheep than people. There are no fast food restaurants but there is the local restaurant, Kalico Kitchen, in downtown Union that is packed each morning for breakfast and then again for lunch. Lewisburg, which is the Greenbrier County seat, was voted the Coolest Small Town in American in 2011 and is just a 40 minute drive to the thriving downtown historic district. The downtown boasts a year round live theatre, Carnegie Hall, several fabulous restaurants, antique shops and boutiques. There is also a modern hospital and all attendant medical facilities along with all the big box stores. The Greenbrier County Airport, which has WVs longest runway, is located just 45 minutes away and has daily flights to Atlanta and Washington DC. The world famous Greenbrier Resort is about 40 minutes drive and Snowshoe Ski Resort is about 2.5 hours drive. Blacksburg & Roanoke are 90 minutes, DC is 4.5 hours and Charlotte is 3 hours away. The WindHorse Farm is located near the Creekside Resort. Guests to this charming resort can enjoy a variety of lodging choices including a farmhouse inn, private lodge suites, or cozy forest cottages. Visit their website: creeksideresort.net THE OUTBUILDINGS There are several outbuildings on the property. Behind the historic home, there are two very nice artist studios with over sized windows to capture the soft light coming from the north and east. There is also a root cellar and old smoke house over top of the cellar. There is a run in shed for the horses near the historic home along with two smaller storage sheds nearby as well. Adjacent to the New House, is a five stall run in with adjoining machine and storage building. The horses are stabled here. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES The farm has approximately 25 acres of gently rolling meadows, hay fields, pastures, and garden areas. Currently, the owner's horses graze on seasonal grasses in the pastures. Much of the land would be suitable for growing corn or other small grain crops. Sheep also do well in this area and one might consider raising alpacas or llamas. The soils and elevation would be well suited for establishing a vineyard or fruit orchard. There is only 50' in elevation change from 1930' to 1961' across the field area. The perimeter of the farm runs for 12,000' with little fencing outside of the pasture. There is no shortage of room to establish a vegetable garden and the rich soil and abundant sunshine is perfect for growing tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, carrots, onions and any of the Greens (kale, mustard and collards). The open land is fenced and cross fenced and the fencing is considered good in most areas. Water for livestock is provided by the farm pond. The rich, sweet soils are perfect for producing seasonal grasses for grazing or hay and this land could also be used in the production of corn, pumpkins etc. Monroe County ranks 3rd out of 55 counties in WV for the production of beef and 1st in the production of sheep. WATER ON THE FARM A blue line streams meanders for about 3600 feet near the western boundary of the farm. Another shorter blue line stream flows for about 1000' on the eastern side. Several other seasonal and ephemeral streams are found through out the property. Several springs may be found around the property but there has been no need to develop these since there has always been the outstanding well to supply the water needs. There is a very nice pond that provides water for the horses as well as the resident wildlife. Public water is not available and a drilled well provides the water for both of the homes. The well is considered to be one of the strongest in the county and is said to be a Sweet Spring. FOREST RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE Some of the trees would be considered Heritage Trees. These ancient trees, some of which are 200-300 years old, have withstood the test of time, weathering ice, wind, lightning strikes, fire and of course woodpeckers. One extremely large White Oak (Quercus Alba) growing along the road to the New House a circumference of over 12 feet. There are also several Black Walnut trees scattered about that are very beautiful and stately and produce an abundance of tasty walnuts in the fall of the year. The moderate elevation, 1790' to 1978', coupled with the some nice deep coves and hollows is very conducive to growing extremely high quality timber. Black Walnut, White Oak, Red Oak, Sugar Maple, Hickory, Tulip Poplar, Black Cherry and Mountain Ash are the predominant species comprising the forest. There is an abundant amount of merchantable timber ready for harvest and many trees will classify as Veneer and Overseas export logs. The timber was last harvested in the 1950's and any evidence of past timber harvesting has long since disappeared. The forest is healthy and there is no evidence of Gypsy Moth or Emerald Ash Borer infestation. MINERAL RESOURCES The Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Field is thought to underlay the property and natural gas companies have been aggressively leasing natural gas rights in the area. To the Sellers knowledge, there have been no gas wells drilled on the property and no coal mining has ever been done. The Sellers are conveying all mineral rights and oil and gas rights they own and they have not leased any coal or natural gas rights to any companies.