Both a working farm that Fountain House members share in operating, and a natural resource which they take part in conserving, High Point, located on 477 acres in Montague, New Jersey, is a unique and integral part of the Fountain House program.
High Point Farm occupies twelve acres of the site, and includes a fourteen-room chalet that accommodates as many as eighteen people. The remaining acreage is dense woods. The property abuts Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park along the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York State borders.
A Rural Extension of Fountain House. Of the farm's twelve acres, ten are used as pastures for livestock while two acres are used for organic gardening. Among the farm's "residents": llamas and alpacas, whose luxurious fibers represent a high-priced cash crop. Just as members and staff, working side by side, keep the city house functioning, so the same teamwork is essential to operating the farm. Members take part in caring for the livestock (alpacas and llamas), landscaping, tending the gardens, and freezing, canning and packaging the farm-grown vegetables and fruits. They share, too, in keeping the chalet in order, and in cooking and serving their own meals. As at Fountain House, participation is voluntary.
Land and Wildlife Protection. High Point includes more than 400 acres of forest. To conserve the forest, which is also a Certified Tree Farm managed for continuing growth and harvesting, Fountain House follows a woodland management plan registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Forestry. Fountain House has several projects in force to help preserve it. To protect the entire property, Fountain House, with members' assistance, recently began a multi-year conservation program, developed and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Relaxing with Nature. For Fountain House members, most of who live on limited incomes in inner-city areas, the farm offers a special chance to trade city traffic and stresses for country space. Members are invited to relax and enjoy the serene, healing environment, and, as the seasons and weather permit, to go swimming and boating on the property's 10-acre lake, camping, hiking, bird-watching and ice-skating.
