What’s in a name?
Creekside: Taylors Creek runs beside our property. “The Taylor Creek Mill of 1932, with its extant concrete dam and partially intact mill works, is a typical example of a later grist mill that also was used as a saw mill.” ~DHR’s Survey of Historic Resources Hanover 1990 LCA report. Remnants of the mill still exist and the rocks used as landscaping came from the mill after it was blown up.
Hollow: “A small, sheltered valley that usually, but not necessarily, has a watercourse.” ~USC’s Southern Appalachian English. We’ve definitely got the hills and the valley. What a workout just walking the property.
Homestead: “A house and the farmland it is on.” ~Cambridge Dictionary. We are zoned A-1 agricultural so pretty much anything goes!
Creekside Hollow Homestead is located 25 minutes west of Short Pump in the quaint, rural town of Montpelier, Virginia We are located in Hanover County only a few miles from the Louisa County line. In 2021, we moved to the country from the suburbs after all our human kids left the nest. We say we downsized the house to upsize the land, garage, and solitude. This land and house spoke to me when we first saw it because it reminded me so much of my grandparent’s farm property in Taneytown, Md. The smell of the boxwoods transported me right back to my childhood summers at Mom Mom and Pop Pop Kiser’s.
We spent the first year clearing debris, planting a garden, making an outdoor fireplace, and learning country ways. In 2022, we added chickens and revamped some very large but neglected open air coops. In 2023, we converted an 8×12 shed to a barn and fenced in a paddock to house our first two dairy goats, Ginger and Jasmine. In 2024, I learned how to hand and machine milk and farm sat for some folks. I was also able to attend the birth of our second two, Luca and Leia. Luckily, we have made some great goat friends and mentors who have helped us learn. Next up: breeding and our own babies!
We love this life and look forward to all the learning and adventures it brings.
We are so grateful you have checked out our page and we hope to see you in person soon.
Mark and Julie Lohman
