Farm Chic

By: Christopher Percy CollierWed Dec 19, 2007 at 8:19 AM

America's luxurious rustic getaway gets in touch with its roots--and lets you do the same.

The rustic splendor of the farm's flower garden and shed.

Farm Fresh Coykendall cradles the freshly picked kohlrabi.

Blackberry Farm, a 51-room estate in the bucolic foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, is bathed in the kind of spare-no-expense elegance that regularly attracts CEOs and celebrities. No surprise, then, that the "farm" component has long been more backdrop than focal point. Come May, however, the farm steps forward with the introduction of Farmstead: a series of newly built artisanal structures--cheese cave, smokehouse, root cellar, greenhouse, jammery--that will let guests learn about (and make) some of the finer foods they enjoy. A typical Farmstead experience will involve picking up baguettes and freshly roasted coffee from the on-premise bakery, touring the vegetable garden with master gardener John Coykendall, bringing vegetables to the head chef to see how they're prepared--and then having them served with the entrée that night. Not every aspect of farm life will be part of the new offering: Someone else will still wake at dawn to feed the livestock.

blackberryfarm.com; Rates range from $695--$1,695 per night