TRYON FARM
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Tryon Farm is a unique green community with homes strategically placed among 200 acres, with over 120 acres of preserved, open land managed by Tryon Farm Institute, a land preservation non-profit with a mission to connect human and natural communities by promoting habitat diversity and sustainable land husbandry.
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A central focal point of Tryon Farm is the historic dairy barn that dates back to 1892 and in 2020 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Continue reading to learn more abourt TFI including the barn restoration project.
Tryon Farm also features 5+ miles of marked trails, a guest house, community garden, labyrinth and natural swimming pond (not available to guests).
Download the trail map here.
THE HISTORY OF TYON FARM
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In 1990 community organizers Eve and Ed Noonan purchased the 170-acre Tryon Farm with the goal of building a sustainable community and keeping as much of the land in its natural state as possible. Now Tryon Farms embodies an ''understanding the whole relationship between privacy and community" with its intimate clusters of 5-7 homes, positioned in a way that gives privacy without the use of fences and walls.
Though Tryon Farm provides a natural and secluded experience just over an hour from Chicago, it also encourages community through a shared garden, annual celebrations and miles of shared trails.
Charles Tryon, Sr. purchased an 80-acre farm on Tryon Road in 1877 and added 40 more acres a few years later. Upon his death in 1891, his two sons (Charles and Henry) inherited the farm and built the iconic Tryon Farm dairy barn. In 1896-1900 the large brick farmhouse, chicken coop and drive through granary were added.
Charles farmed Tryon during the “Golden Age” of agriculture, when horse-drawn equipment was replaced with power-driven machinery. During the late 1800s the “Wisconsin Dairy Barn” was invented by the University of WI and the Tryon dairy operation generally followed this concept.
The barn retains its calving stalls, stanchions, and concrete troughs today and few other barns its age and size remain in northern LaPorte County. The barn received National Historic Register status in 2020 and restoration plans were launched in 2021 to keep around for another 130 years!
THE TRYON FARM INSTITUTE​
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The mission od the Tryon Farm Institute is to connect human and natural communities by promoting habitat diversity and sustainable land husbandry.
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TFI is a unique land trust responsible for stewarding agricultural and preservation lands that share interdependancies with neighboring lands. Their land holdings serve as a natural learning labratory which provide a variety of public access opportunities for the purpose of demonstrating real world sustainable land use practices.
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TFI serves as a center for information and idea exchange, facilitating research, dialogue and community engagement. The Institute actively encourages partnerships and supports member-driven initiatives that sustainably engage the land and serve to connect humans and natural communities.
SUPPORT TRYON FARM ​
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Anyone is welcome to become a “friend” of the Tryon Farm Institute. Friends are welcome to enjoy TFI’s 100+ acre nature preserve and use our recreational trails for your year-round enjoyment. Additionally your Friendship is an important measure of support for our ongoing mission to provide connections between human and natural communities.
Learn more about contributing here.
You can also support TFI with a set of Tryon Farm Soy Candles from Beverly & Third. Not only do they provide delicious scents to fill your home, but each purchase supports the Tryon Farm Institute. Check them out here.
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