Our farm estate has a rich history dating back to the first homesteaders on Orcas Island. Stories and lore from the farm boast how the apricots were too big to fit into a canning jar. Their strawberries consistently won prizes at the county fair and even a first prize at the state fair. Apples and pears were shipped by boat, then train all along the West Coast and inland over the Cascades and Sierras. This farm had an orchard of over 200 hundred tall growing fruit trees. Rows of Gravenstein and King apples, Orcas and Bartlett pears, cherries, plums, peaches, and yes, apricots. These were the short lively years in San Juan County that boasted some of the best growing conditions for bountiful produce in the Pacific Northwest. By the 1920's, agriculture boomed in eastern Washington's heavily irrigated richer soils, longer and consistently warmer weather, and train serviced routes. Orcas Island farms could no longer remain competitive.
Many of our farm's historic apple and pear trees still stand and produce literally tons of fruit. These majestic trees are over 100 years old and are heirloom varieties that are no longer grown or even available from seed. For those who walk quietly under their huge boughs, feelings of peace and awe are sure to overcome. Still, there are many other untold stories and secrets held on this land from the impossible to the unbelievable.
1880's - 1940's:
It was John and Rachel Boede with their nine children that homesteaded the 200 + acre farm, with all 11 of them living in a 425 square foot pioneer cabin. Coming by boat and barge with just a few provisions, they chose this farm for its ideal location with plenty of sunny western and southern exposure as well as its rich deposits of soil. It was also just about a mile from the the landing at West Sound. The Boede family was quite prominent and one of the first homesteaders in the San Juans. Our farm lies at the heart of the their homestead. Descendents of John and Rachel Boede still reside on the island today. The original pioneer cabin was later relocated in the early 1950's to Eastsound and became one of the buildings of the Orcas Island Historical Museum.
Mid 1940's - 1982:
In the mid 1940's, on a visit to Friday Harbor one of the Boede heirs bet the main portion of the farm in a poker game. The man who won the game did not want the farm or the land and put it up for sale. A relative of another Orcas Island farmer heard about the sale and purchased the farm from the poker game winner for a mere $25,000. The farm was now only 35 acres with most of the orchard, an old barn built in the 1920's and a farmhouse built in 1915 when the pioneer cabin was vacated. The buyer, Mr. Eastman, was having a hard time making ends meet in Seattle and thought he and wife would have an 'easier' time raising four children on the farm. They embraced the Orcas Island farm life and the children played freely in the fields. Bob and Ed Eastman, two of the children still live on Orcas Island with their families. More stories from the Eastman farm keep surfacing. In the summer of 1952 a horse fell down the open dug well unnoticed. Missing for almost the entire day they eventually found the horse. The Eastmans devised a pulley system. One of the boys climbed to the bottom of the well, hooked the horse to the pulley and they hoisted her up. Once to the top, the horse jumped straight up and walked off as if nothing ever happened.
1982-1996:
The farm changed hands once more in the 1980's when Terry Rhodes Whittier, an oil heiress to Whittier Energy Corporation, purchased the 35 acre farm from the Eastmans. Once Terry bought the property she began making large improvements. Her biggest undertaking being the remodel of the old 1915 farmhouse. The design called for keeping the entrance and front of the house while adding on 5,000+ square feet to the rear. The quality of materials and craftsmanship cannot be matched nor replicated. Many local artists were commissioned for custom art and woodwork. This is the estate home you see today. The cellar, entrance, parlor room, and upstairs bedrooms are what remain of the Boede farmhouse. The Whittier/Braun family renamed the estate Truffle Hill Farm after the hundreds of truffles planted in the old apple orchard. Unfortunately the truffles never came to be, but Terry loved her horses and her land.
Shortly after purchasing the farm, the old barn burned down. Rumor has it that someone was in the barn listening to the Rolling Stones when a horse kicked over the ashtray and POOF. The historic 1920's barn is dearly missed and in its place a large hay barn was built. In the early 1990's Terry and her two children left the island. The property was leased for the next four years, with the grounds and technical systems left largely uncared for.
1996 - present:
The estate was on the market several times in the mid 1990's, but many potential buyers passed it over because of the headache of all the needed repairs and general maintenance. Shana Lloyd fell in love with the neglected estate and purchased it with mostly passion and little experience of farming. She quickly and aptly named the farm Once In A Blue Moon Farm. Years of continuing hard and relentless work, Once In A Blue Moon Farm expanded into more than just a farm to become an island retreat, with complete renovations and remodels of not only the buildings, but the land itself.
