Pomfret, Vermont, home to Sleepy Hollow Farm, reopened its picturesque feeder roads on October 16 after mid-fall closure. As one of the most photographed places in New England, the town had recently restricted non-resident viewing of its colorful maple trees.
Locals crowdsourced to force the authorities to ban interstate visitors from coming here between September 23 and October 15, 2023. The town’s administration had instead wanted to regain glory through tourism after rains in March, 2023 flooded the scenic location.
According to the BBC, the residents may have crowdsourced some $10K to make the authorities close the all-important Cloudland Road. The funds went into installing road closure signages and other traffic signs.
This was after increased complaints of misuse by tourists who littered the spot with garbage, caused traffic accidents via roadside parking and insulted residents.
Other than the leafy purple bloom on maples that makes the place paradisiacal in fall, Pomfret boasts scenic ponds. It also vaunts winding tarmac roads that skirt the 18th century period homes.
Farming no longer takes place on the Sleepy Hollow Farm. The last agricultural activity happened in the 1950s when the place began changing ownership. A famous acquisition of the farm was by Aerosmith guitarist, Joe Perry, who bought the farm in 2005.
Sleepy Hollow Farm started as a humble stable and barn farm for two brothers in the 1780s. The original agricultural activity on the farm for siblings Samuel and John Doten was haymaking, dairy and chicken-rearing.
At its heyday, the Vermont farm would supply milk throughout the Pomfret neighborhood. Eggs from the Doten hatcheries would also inundate homes around the Woodstock area.
As many as eight small-scale farms next to the Doten farmyard lived to see the 1950s. Today, with Woodstock and Pomfret having turned into acclaimed tourist spots, only two such farms remain next to Sleepy Hollow Farm.