The Old Order Mennonite community in Dayton, located near Harrisonburg, is thriving, so much so that the scenic, rural landscape is running out of room for the next generation to continue the farming tradition.
It’s those growing pains that led a group of 21 young families and five elders of the Riverdale conference, one of three Rockingham County Old Order congregations, to look for a new place to put down roots. When they learned that Liberty Corner Farm was available, they formed Countryside Homesteads LLC to purchase the estate and divide it into separate farms where they can continue the Old Order way of life. One of the congregation’s elders will also make the move.
The 1,888-acre estate, which was purchased for $18.5 million, includes something out of the norm for Old Order Mennonites: a luxurious, 6,000-square-foot colonial-style mansion completed in 1790. Country Homesteads’ financial burden will be eased when the home is sold.
“Actually, it’s under restriction for five years,” said former owner Richard Sipes. “They have to sell 21 acres because of the deed restriction, which expires in five years. So, my understanding is they’re going to do it with a lease, where ultimately the house and six acres will be what is sold.”
Sipes has put his property up for sale in various ways, shapes and forms over the years. When approached with an offer to buy his estate in its entirety, he was excited. Equally exciting was the buyer.
One of the congregation’s deacons invited Sipes and his wife, Marlene, to both a Sunday service and a Sunday dinner. Fortunately, a recent gathering had left the group with the room needed for food, fellowship and an outline of what the potential buyers had in mind. Sipes says the crowd included more than a hundred people.
“It was a lot of fun. We actually went for a buggy ride!” said Sipes.
The visit also included dropping by a dairy farm.
“I can’t tell you how impressed I was with their operation, how professional everything was, how mechanized everything was, how clean everything was,” he said. “I mean, it was truly impressive and as clean as my kitchen floor. I was truly amazed.”
Inviting the man whose land they hoped to purchase was just a small part of the plan. For months, the families pored over surveys to carve out their futures, which was challenging at times.
“It was an intense winter back home,” said William, the first farmer to make the move, whose crop is chicken eggs. William asked that his surname not be used. Not for privacy so much as to avoid vanity and pride, which contradict humility.
Old Order Mennonites also decline to be photographed to avoid graven images, citing the Second Commandment.
For anyone who has visited Rockingham County, “poultry” is synonymous with barns that stretch out for several hundred feet. Poultry producers see money when their eyes land on a poultry barn. But for those who roam Old Order country for the scenery, they’re an eyesore.
How William gathers eggs is different, however, and its disruption of the landscape will be minimal. He is part of an eight-family co-op of mobile egg cultivation farms. Mobile egg farming for William will involve fencing off 10 acres where 1,000 chickens will roam and lay eggs inside a mobile coop. It’s up to the farmer to provide water and grain-based chicken feed to ensure adequate nutrition. Mother nature will provide the flock with worms, insects and a wide variety of fresh plants, clovers, and seeds. The chickens’ foraging naturally aerates the soil and incorporates their nitrogen-rich droppings directly into the ground, creating fertile land on which to grow wheat to feed the chickens, which William says will be his first-year harvest. With the support of his wife, Marilyn, William will gather the eggs which are then purchased by a distributor, whose largest customer is Whole Foods. When the foraging area reaches its peak, the fence will be moved to a new ten-acre area.
“The big market is for the volume needed to survive,” said William. “Underneath it all is a desire to provide healthy food for a local market.”
Willam plans to eventually go beyond eggs. Sipes’ property includes Scottland Farm, home to a large dairy operation that had to close in the 90s. William hopes to return the facility to its former glory. Other families, he says, will grow cash crops such as corn, wheat, soy, and hay. The land will also be used to grow vegetable crops such as beans, squash and tomatoes. Cattle farms will also be included.
Lawrence Wenger is a Riverdale deacon and member of Countryside Homesteads LLC.
“It’s exciting because we have 30-year-olds who don’t have an opportunity to work on the land, and this provides that opportunity.”
It’s also bittersweet, as one of his children is among those who will be making the move. Should members in the Valley want to pay a visit, they will have to hire one of the drivers who regularly help Old Orders go to and from places where they can’t take a horse and buggy. The drivers charge $20-25 an hour, making a round trip up to $150, Wenger says.
Old Order Mennonites, sometimes referred to as Double O’s, are often confused with the Amish, but there are many differences. Both use horse-and-buggies, which some refer to as Yoder toters, to travel reasonable distances. (Yoder is a common Mennonite and Amish surname.) The Amish do not use electricity, while Old Order Mennonites do. Amish church services are held in members’ homes or barns; Old Order Mennonites worship in church houses. Wherever they gather to worship, Amish and Old Order Mennonites seat the women on one side and the men on the other. Another commonality is no radio or television, although Old Order Mennonites in Rockingham County do read the newspaper. Both have similar clothing restrictions, but Amish women’s cape dresses can only be certain solid colors. Old Order women are free to wear patterned cloth, with their dresses less restrictive. Upon marriage, Amish men are required to wear a beard but no mustache, while Old Order Mennonite men are clean-shaven.
Acapella music is at the core of both Amish and Mennonite church services. But the Amish sing almost dirge-like songs in unison from memory, while the trademark of Mennonites from Old Order to mainstream is traditional hymns sung in four-part harmony. The Old Order hymnal uses a shape-note pattern created in Singers Glen by a pioneer music teacher, publisher, and composer in 1851. His name, ironically, is Joseph Funk.
Mennonites are also well-known for their cooking, to which Sipes can attest.
“Oh, they’re over periodically,” said Sipes as he and his wife, Marlene, who have since left Esmont for Texas to be near family, were wrapping up the moving process. “They come, and let me tell you, every time they come, they bring us gifts from homemade butter to organic eggs. Last time, they brought homemade strawberry pie, sandwiches, meats and bread.” Sipes says he once told the group’s senior elder, “You know, I understand now why you guys walk everywhere because if you didn’t, you’d weigh 300 pounds with all the cooking that goes on.”
In addition to homes as the families trickle in over the next 2-3 years, the Old Order community will have to build a church and a school, which will teach grades 1-8.
But there is a shared dark side in some Amish and conservative Mennonite communities; so-called puppy farms. A 2024 raid led to the seizure of 81 dogs from Free Union’s Shady Lane Farm. Three conservative Mennonite men pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, but got no time behind bars.
Deacon Wenger is unaware of any puppy farms in his tightknit community. His concern is safety for the families’ horses, and he hopes that people will be made aware of their new neighbors and their novel mode of transportation.
While not frequent, fatal auto-versus-buggy crashes are a sobering reality in areas that include Amish or Old Order Mennonite communities. Last August, a hit-and-run accident in neighboring Buckingham County injured six people and killed their horse.
Wenger says the members of the new Old Order community will use their horse and buggies to get to the Scottsville Center to visit the Food Lion, the post office and Old Dominion National Bank.
Scottsville Chief of Police Greg Jenkins agrees with Wenger’s concern and the challenges and concerns of local driver. But Jenkins said he has heard no complaints.
“Everyone I’ve talked to in the Scottville community is excited to have the folks come into town,” he said. “They’re going to bring a lot of value to the Town of Scottsville, in my opinion.”
The Town of Scottsville has a farmer’s market from April to November.
“The town community and residents are so excited to hopefully have them come down and participate in the farmer’s market and just truly be a part of the Scottsville community down here,” he said.
William says making fresh eggs available to his neighbors is among his goals. Deacon Wenger says he looks forward to seeing other farms making what they grow available to the locals.
“That’s the way God intended agronomy to be.”
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