Lea Ardley says the best-selling item in the Happy Little Farmstead gift shop is a plush toy version of the farm’s favourite cat Niko.
They had the empty barn so why not?
Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
SPENCERVILLE — When her retiring parents stopped milking cows, Lea Ardley and her husband, Alex, decided to transform the empty dairy barn into an agri-tourism business called ‘Happy Little Farmstead.’
Instead of a marketing plan or a build-it-and-they-will-come philosophy, they figured we’ve got it, let’s use it. They launched in October 2022, at the farmstead with a postcard-perfect view of a hillside on Spencerville’s Goodin Road, a few kilometres off Hwy 416.
Equal parts petting zoo, event space and agricultural museum with a nod to the owners’ Swiss roots, the operation recently hosted over 300 people over a weekend. “we were 90 % booked our first year,” she said.
They host seasonal farm events, like an upcoming corn roast August 16-17, which will also mark the opening of the farm’s popular corn maze. Halloween also proves to be a draw.
Over 1,900 turned out for the couple’s organized Easter egg hunt this year. “It’s our most popular event,” she said.
Families are attracted by the farmy atmosphere and the collection of poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep, ponies and pot-bellied pigs. The owners also bring the animals to various special events around the area. The farm includes a corn maize that opens this year.
School classes regularly visit. Word has gotten around to local teachers about the educational side of the operation. She changes $5 per head and discount rates for groups and schools.
The inside of the dairy barn has been refashioned into something quite different from the days when Ardley helped with dairy chores in her youth. Now, there’s a simple museum with displays on agricultural practices. It’s in keeping with her post-secondary education and original intention to pursue a museum career. Out of school she worked at Canada’s agricultural museum and also burnished her agri-tourism credentials with a stint at the Gee Bees Honey Company in Ottawa.
High on a wall in the barn hangs a collection of Swiss cowbells of the type received to mark important life milestones in the Alpine nation. They’re authentic as Ardley’s parents arrived from Switzerland in 1993.
The last addition built onto the barn, in 2010, now serves as a community space available for birthday parties and other special events. Meanwhile, the former milkhouse has found new life as a gift shop.
She doesn’t hesitate when asked which animals are the most popular. “The barn cats,” she said, and black-and-white ‘Niko’ is chief among them. A plush toy version of the farm’s star cat is a popular seller.
Happy Little Farmstead is open year round.
