The 700-acre property is located on the eastern side of the Valley of the Moon, in Glen Ellen, California. Anne Teller, widow of Otto Teller, a renowned conservationist who died in 1998, owns the property. Otto Teller purchased the property in 1957 from the Blakes and named it Oak Hill Farm. For some years he raised sheep. In the mid-60’s, the Tellers enlarged the farm by purchasing a neighbor’s dairy farm, the Johnson Ranch. The red dairy barn on that property became what is now The Red Barn Store.
Upon the recommendation of a florist friend, Teller planted some perennial greens, myrtle and eucalyptus, for sale to florists. What began as a favor to a friend evolved into a wholesale flower business, for years the backbone of the company.
In January 2001, Oak Hill Farm merged with Paul Wirtz of Paul’s Produce in Sonoma, greatly increasing the vegetable production. Paul has been growing and selling his produce at the two Sonoma Farmers’ Markets and to local restaurants for almost 20 years. He has served as farmers’ market board member and is respected for practicing only sustainable-agricultural farming methods.
Currently, Oak Hill grows over 200 varieties of plants for commercial purposes. All farming is done under a sustainable agriculture/organic farming model. No chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers are used, nor have they been used since the Tellers bought the property in the 1950s.
Much of the property is steep oak and manzanita woodland rising 800 feet above the valley toward the Mayacamas Ridge. This land is the domain of a great many wild creatures, including deer, mountain lion, coyote, fox, bobcat, as well as many species of bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian too numerous to mention. There are several fresh water springs and two significant watersheds feeding Sonoma Creek that originate on the property.
Otto and Anne Teller, founding members of the Sonoma Land Trust, donated a conservation easement covering the entire property to the trust in 1984, insuring that the farm would remain essentially as it is in perpetuity. The Oak Hill Farm conservation easement to the Sonoma Land Trust was the first of what has grown into several thousand acres of Sonoma County lands protected under conservation easements held by the Sonoma Land Trust. Under this easement agreement, no new building or activity that would change the complexion of the 700-acre Oak Hill Farm property will be allowed. The Sonoma Land Trust actively monitors compliance with the agreement.