Hidden Villa Farm

By Nyssa Kansal

Since 1924, the Hidden Villa farm has played an essential role in the town of Los Altos Hills. The property originally served as the home of Frank and Josephine Duveneck, who aimed to eventually share the space. It initially became a safe space for various refugees, which led to the establishment of the first ethnically diverse summer camp in the US, in 1945.

Hidden Villa is now a non-profit, seeking to enhance sustainable agriculture, which is quite uncommon in the modern day. Large monoculture farms have taken over agriculture, as they pursue maximum profit. Monoculture farming continuously robs the soil of its nutrients, decreasing its fertility and, thus, the crop yield. 

Hidden Villa strives to increase community engagement, as a part of this effort to reform the agricultural industry. The vast property of over 1,000 acres contains fields of vegetation and grazing land for the farm animals. Hidden Villa holds countless workshops and summer camps, spreading environmental education and teaching youth the importance of sustainable practices. 

Hidden Villa produces their own soil by utilizing animal compost. Many of their farm animals consume cover crops, such as oat grass, resulting in a large production of animal waste, which is then used to fertilize their crops. This system makes the farm self-sustaining, while they maintain soil fertility and crop production.

Hidden Villa is a thriving nonprofit, hosting 30,000 visitors annually. It impacts not only the town of Los Altos Hills, but visitors from numerous other cities and schools. Maintaining such a large farm sustainability is not an easy endeavor, which has led many industrial farms in California and the US to turn to unsustainable practices. Hopefully, other farms can be inspired by Hidden Villa, and adopt the practices that Hidden Villa has been employing for the last one hundred years.

Image Credit: Hidden Villa