STANFORDVILLE — Three months after announcing that Sisters Hill Farm was for sale, the Sisters of Charity of New York said leadership is in talks with a prospective buyer who intends to keep the property a working farm and continue its community-supported agriculture program.
In a letter earlier this month to farm members, the congregation’s leadership team said the prospective buyers share a commitment to preserving the farm and its mission. Farmer David Hambleton will continue to play “an important role” in its future, the letter said.
The letter did not name the prospective buyers or disclose a price, and the sale is not final. The congregation said it is still working through the details of a purchase agreement and is “very encouraged” by the direction of talks.
The Stanfordville farm supports a CSA program and is a popular destination for locally-grown produce. In July, the congregation announced plans to to sell its entire property, just east of Route 82, without a public listing or asking price. The announcement offered no guarantee the land would stay in agriculture.
The letter refers to the farm as “much more than a piece of property,” a place where stewardship, education and service have flourished for almost 30 years.
The congregation hired Hambleton in 1999 to start a community-supported agriculture program, which has grown from 40 members to more than 400. Members pay on a sliding scale, and 10% of the harvest goes to families in need.
In 2023, a lack of new congregants led the Sisters of Charity of New York to announce they would wind down.
Hambleton, who declined to comment on the planned sale in July, told CSA members at the time he was “still processing this.” He has described the farm’s purpose as being as much about community as vegetables. In a 2024 profile with The Millerton News, Hambleton said “there’s nothing more basic and elemental than feeding people.”
His role extends beyond the fields. Since 1999, Hambleton has trained a class of apprentices every year, many of whom go on to farm in the Hudson Valley and beyond. Erin Bullock, who founded Mud Creek Farm CSA a year after apprenticing at Sisters Hill in 2008, told the News in August, “Dave was a true mentor, and shared everything he knew.”
The congregation thanked members for the “outpouring of love, concern, and support” since the sale was announced.
