Sylvester Manor Educational Farm

About Sylvester Manor Educational Farm

This historic landscape was inhabited and managed by indigenous people for millennia; the site of the educational farm has been continually cultivated for a thousand years. Since 1652, Sylvester Manor Educational Farm on Shelter Island has been home to eleven generations of its original European settler family and is now considered to be the most intact plantation remnant north of Virginia. In 2009, the property, with its 1735 Manor House, 240 acres of woodland, waterfront, meadows and farmland, became a non-profit. In its latest reincarnation, it encompasses an organic educational farm that provides the community with fresh produce, a Summer Youth Program and numerous arts and cultural initiatives. The Manor House, still full of family history, artifacts and possessions, is open on a seasonal basis for tours and exhibition, while its grounds and gardens provide a tranquil respite for visitors April through October. The existing farm was started by Bennett Konesni, Co-Founder of Sylvester Manor, over 10 years ago and has emerged as a model of educational and community farming; a place that is committed to fulfilling his vision of making life more joyful and fair. The mission of Sylvester Manor Educational Farm is to preserve, cultivate and share the history of Sylvester Manor to ensure that food and art remain connected to community and the land.