Cidery at Fredericton's historic Neill Farm to open this summer, housing also going up
Owners say repairs are slowing them down but not stopping them
Adam Clawson and his partner Nicola Mason stood on the sidewalk in the snapping cold wind to show the work being done on the 200-year-old barn they plan to turn into a small grocery shop.
In 2021, the couple purchased the Neill Farm in Fredericton to expand their business, Red Rover Craft Cider, while the surrounding land was sold to developers and rezoned for housing.
Working with the city to make the old barns and outbuildings usable has taken longer than expected, Clawson said, but the extra time isn't standing in the way of the couple's dreams. They are hoping to have things open "by the middle of summer to late summer this year, at least in some capacity."
Pointing to the barn and the spaces where windows will go, and the future spot for a wraparound patio, he said it would have been easier to knock the barn down and rebuild.
But the history is too important.
The plan
Out of the wind, in the barn once used for dairy cows, the couple shared their ideas for the property and the historic buildings.
The plans include a small outlet with a grocery store, a tasting room, a U-Pick, spaces for weddings and agricultural events and cider production — all in a modern style while keeping in mind the historic past.
"A lot of people thought we'd be making just another taproom, alcohol-production space," Clawson said.
"But really what this is, it's going to be an urban agriculture farm location. … We're looking at this not so much as being somewhere where parents go but the whole family goes, with different activities."
Though they've had the property for a while, Clawson said it takes time to change a dairy barn into a cider production plant and bring in the needed amount of running water, electricity and waste facilities.
"So we've been working on all of that, but also stabilizing and bringing all the ... buildings up to code … making sure that we're creating the best possible foundation for these buildings to last the next 200 years."
New housing also going up
Behind the barns and future apple trees, houses are being built.
Developer David Davis, who bought 19 acres of the original farm, said each house is going to be a little bit different in style but all of the new builds will be relatively affordable, with the goal of selling in the $300,000 range.
Davis believes a couple with a combined income of about $100,000 will be able to afford one of these homes.
He adds that having the Neill Farm next door is a bonus.
"It just makes it more livable," he said. "It's not generic."
History
The original name of the Neill Farm was Sunnybank Farm, and Mason said that's the name they will use when the cidery opens.
"We're gonna keep that, you know, in honour of all its history."
In 1840, John Neill came from Scotland and even though he called it Sunnybank it's always been known by locals as the Neill Farm. His son and eventually his grandsons and great-grandsons ran the farm.
Until the 1940s, it was a mixed-farming system, meaning there was a little of everything being done — raising livestock, planting and harvesting crops. Then it became a dairy farm, producing what Holstein Canada recognized as some of the best Holsteins in the country.
The last cows were milked in 2011 by then 80-year-old Albert Neill, who, with his brother Ron, were the last members of the family to farm the place. The family sold it to Clawson and Mason a decade later.
With the buildings now being renovated and preserved, the next step is planting some apples.
"Just like all the buildings that are being renovated, we want to give all the trees the best possible start," said Mason.
As this business venture is a community-based project, feedback is always welcome, the couple said.
"We really appreciate the community's patience, and we are going to come through on this," Clawson said. "It's just going to take time and we want to do it really right.
"Just like an apple tree takes 10 years, this project isn't going to be built overnight."
He and Mason see themselves as caretakers.
"No one really owns a property like this. You just look after it and we want to leave it for the next generation better than we found it," he said.
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