Hill Farm and the Birth of an American Farm

In the summer of 1776, as the Continental Congress was signing the Declaration of Independence, a child named Abner Hill was born on a frontier homestead in Sunderland, Vermont. His father, Abner Hill Sr., had arrived in Sunderland a decade earlier as part of the original group of Connecticut settlers who cleared this land in 1765 and 1766. The Hill family was, from the very beginning, woven into the founding fabric of the Equinox Valley.

A Farm Takes Shape in a New Nation

In 1799, Abner Hill Jr. married his bride, Clarissa Hill, and took ownership of 400 acres in the Equinox Mountain Valley, consolidating the family's land into what would become a working dairy and livestock operation. The original residence on this property, known as the 1790 House, was built just as Vermont was ratified as the 14th state of the Union. Abner farmed this land, raised his family here, and remained on the property until his death on May 8, 1843. His grave is located nearby at the Ira Allen Cemetery in Sunderland, where land records from this era are still preserved in the Sunderland Town Clerk's office.

235 Years Later, the Farm Endures

A parcel of the original Hill family farm operates today as Hill Farm, a resort property, in Sunderland, Vermont. The 1790 House is fully renovated, preserving original, historic beams. As the United States marks its 250th year, Hill Farm stands as one of the rare places where the farmland connects directly to the nation's founding generation, not as a museum, but as a boutique hotel and The Restaurant at Hill Farm, both supported by a living, working farm.

Abner Hill’s Vermont Farm Land That Started It All