Ours is a story of Serendipity. What led two suburban yuppies from the Midwest to “Buy the Farm?” Yes, someone did die. In 2015, Tom’s father and Madeline’s mother died, one after a long illness and another suddenly. In addition, inspiration grew with a Virginia Tech graduation laced with tradition in celebrating our son's graduation as a 4th generation VT engineer.
Buying the family farm, Belle-Hampton, which has been in the family for seven generations, was a natural progression in our journey. After eleven relocations, we were finding roots. We now live full-time in the Cottage, we use the Main House as a Family Office, and we rent out the General Store as an Airbnb.
The property consists of 283 acres of rolling pastures, numerous springs, and timber. After realizing we couldn’t mow the pastures the way suburban yuppies maintain a lawn, we came up with an alternative. For over 250 years, prized cattle have been raised on Belle-Hampton Farm.
After evaluating bison and beefalo, we decided on Wagyu. “Full-blood Wagyu are of the same genetics as cattle of the Kobe region of Japan.” Our Back Creek Wagyu operation started in 2017, with the first harvest in March 2020. Although our business model planned on wholesale, mainly restaurants, we pivoted overnight with COVID-19 to e-commerce.
We now sell wholesale to premier resorts and restaurants such as Primland and e-commerce for local pickup or overnight delivery anywhere in the lower 48.