To all our Customers, Visitors, Vendors. We would like to thank you for all your support over the last 12 Years! It is a tough decision, but we will be closing our doors Saturday 2/15 at 3pm.
As one grows older in life he finds no spot on earth so sweet and dear to him as that part of the sun-warmed earth which saw his birth and early years, and if his fortune were to be born and grow up in a small town in which his ancestors had lived, loved and labored, it is all the more so. —Rev. Roland Sawyer
Dear friends,
For those of you who knew Alan and know us, you know we are a family of dreamers and doers, who deeply love Kensington, which Alan’s ancestors, the Sawyers and Blakes, helped settle in the 1600s.
So, when the land at 267 South Road became available and then 244 Amesbury Road across the street, Alan and Harriet jumped at the chance to purchase this iconic hometown corner. They didn’t want another chain coffee shop, fast food restaurant or strip mall on that spot. Rather, our family’s dream was to create a safe and special place, where families could eat, stay, and play as well as provide a market for local farmers and food producers…and thus in 2013 we opened the Farm at Eastman’s Corner.
Throughout our years in business and philanthropy, our family has also grown accustomed to making hard decisions when faced with the facts. Today, we are heartbroken to announce that we will close the Farm at Eastman’s Corner. We have struggled to make it a financially sustainable mission-driven organization Her last day will be February 15th.
We take a measure of comfort knowing that shortly before he passed in November 2022, Alan had reached the same conclusion, that the Farm could not continue to operate as it was. We hoped if we made some more changes, and if the winds of fortune shifted a bit more in our favor, we could make it work. We tried our best and we couldn’t make it work.
We thank the Farm associates who gave it their all to make it a very welcoming and wonderful place. We thank our loyal customers who stayed with us through thick and thin, and we thank our vendors who kept the shelves stocked with good, local food. We will truly miss the kindhearted community of the Farm at Eastman’s Corner.
We are working through the next steps and will keep you updated. Our hope is that the Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation will take over ownership of the property, so we can ensure that whatever happens next on this beloved gateway corner fits the character of the Kensington Community.
We want to be very clear that the Lewis Family remains deeply committed to our core work through the Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation and Pinnacle Leadership and Team Development. We will continue to provide expert leadership training, mission aligned programming at Alnoba and keep the world-class outdoor art collection open for public tours. We will also continue to honor our long-term financial commitment to support Kensington’s Sawyer Park, which the family built and gifted to the town in 2008.
Alan taught us to aim high and miss high. It is bittersweet to acknowledge that sometimes your dreams don’t come fully true, as with the Farm at Eastman’s Corner. But we are sure glad we tried and are very proud we were able to provide a special gathering place for nearly 12 years.
Thank You,
Harriet, Charlotte & Edward Lewis