Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Johnson Farm was a late 19th century tobacco farm that became a popular summer tourist retreat in the early 20th century. Today, the farm is owned by the Henderson County Public Schools and operated as a heritage education center and farm museum. The farm features an 1870's brick house, a 1920's boarding house, a barn-loft museum, 10 historic buildings, two nature trails, and 15 acres of fields, forests, and streams.

 

3346 Haywood Road
Hendersonville NC 28792
(828) 891-6585

Heritage Weavers and Fiber Artists (HWFA)

3346 Haywood Road
Hendersonville NC 28792
(828) 458-0738
President: Ann Mullican
Education Coordinator: Ruth Howe

When the Johnson brothers bequeathed their farm to the Henderson County Public Schools, it was their vision to create a heritage education facility.   With the arrival of the Heritage Weavers and Fiber Artists, an additional heritage education component will be added to the farm program, enhancing that original vision of the Johnson brothers. The farm boarding house will be the site of ongoing fiber arts classes for children and life-long learners as the HWFA and Historic Johnson Farm collaborate on this heritage crafts education program.  As the Henderson County school children tour the farm on school field trips, they will experience hands-on learning in weaving, spinning, dyeing and other fiber crafts, enriching their knowledge in NC history and culture. 

The farm’s gardening volunteers are establishing a dye garden to be used for dyeing fibers produced on the farm.  When the farm’s sheep are sheared in the spring, HWFA will oversee carding and spinning of the wool for fiber projects.  Students and visitors taking tours will learn what plants are used to dye fiber, how fiber was used for warmth, clothing and bedding, and how animals provided the all-important fiber and source to sustain pioneer families.

The HWFA will develop in young people the knowledge and appreciation of fiber craft and its place in our culture.  The weavers are experienced in educating schoolchildren, and will provide an additional learning experience to Henderson County Public School fourth graders who visit Historic Johnson Farm annually as part of their NC history curriculum.

The boarding house porch will be used for spinning, weaving and fiber crafts. The indoor space has ten rooms devoted to those purposes, with one room remaining furnished to represent a boarding house room from the farm’s boarding house era of 1913-1958.  The old claw-foot, cast-iron bathtub from that era remains in the upstairs bathroom.

HWFA is operating a gift shop featuring handmade fiber-related gifts on the main floor. Fiber craft organizations will use the house as a place to meet, and hold workshops and demonstrations.