'It's more than just a property': Somerset County agritourism farm is for sale

Philip and Mary Faranda have devoted nearly 30 years of their lives to entertaining and educating thousands of visitors at Faranda Farm, their agritourism business at 1171 Penn Ave. in Hollsopple, Somerset County. 

On their nearly 50-acre farm, the couple have hosted school field trips, an annual Garlic Festival, family-friendly fall activities, birthday parties and a variety of fundraising events for area organizations. 

Now they’re hoping to find the next person or family who is ready to continue the adventure. The Farandas shared their intention to sell their farm in a June 8 post on the Faranda Farm Facebook page. 

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“If we didn’t run into COVID in 2019, we would’ve done a lot more fund-raising with all the different organizations in the area,” Philip Faranda told the Daily American. “Like everywhere in the world, COVID-19 just put a hold on everything. We were ready to start expanding and entertaining all kinds of different organizations, and everything just came to a halt — and then we realized we had too many birthdays.” 

During the unplanned hiatus, there have been a lot of inquiries from former guests asking when the farm would resume its events, Philip said. Those personal connections with their many guests are especially meaningful to them now. 

“I tell people that no, this is not a farm where we grow something. We entertain people,” Philip Faranda said. “Mary and I, one of our assets was being able to relate to people and that’s the thing we’re going to miss the most. Mary and I would just enjoy meeting the people.  

“People were in here eating and we would sit down and talk to total strangers, and that was the one thing that we were great at, relating (and) talking to the people and making them feel at home. Making our farm an extension of their home and their family is what we excelled in, and that’s what we’re going to miss the most.” 

How did Faranda Farm start?

When Philip Faranda bought the century-old property about 30 years ago, there was just the barn, the house and a small garage. At the time, he was a salesman operating his own business in Johnstown. Mary Faranda had been raised in Conemaugh Township but she was living and working in Pittsburgh. 

Then the two met in Virginia Beach and, 28 years ago, the couple held one of their first events – their own wedding reception – on the Faranda Farm. 

“I’m a city boy, born and raised in Johnstown,” Philip Faranda said. “Mary and I, we’re not farmers, we weren’t born and raised on the farm. I went to college in California and played on the beaches in California and the ski slopes at Lake Tahoe. Me being on a farm was a 180 (degree shift) from everyone’s opinion of what I would do. 

“You learn as you go along, and that’s exactly how it evolved for us. We just learned as we went along.” 

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The Farandas started their agritourism business by hosting a pumpkin festival and inviting area schools to visit the farm for field trips, Mary Faranda said. Philip’s expertise in sales and marketing, and Mary Faranda’s in nutrition and education, formed a strong foundation for what was then a unique endeavor.  

“We started off as an ag-tourism farm when nobody was an ag-tourism farm,” Mary Faranda said. “There was no such thing. Farms were still working farms. Then people started having (corn) mazes and they started having activities at the farm — and now that’s the norm.” 

The Farandas also started their family on the farm. Their son, Christian, is now 25 and lives in Washington, D.C.  

“We ended up having the Garlic Festival as (the farm) started growing, then having it as a venue for fundraisers,” Mary Faranda said. “And then it became a venue for so many other things.” 

'A turn-key operation'

Over time, the Farandas expanded their indoor/outdoor entertainment options at the farm. They built a veranda around the garage and added bathrooms with disability access; fitted a full kitchen into the barn; built stone walls and fencing; added a patio and a gazebo, and built a pedal car track and a children’s play area. 

“As time went on and people came and brought their families, now we’re on the second generation (of guests),” Mary Faranda said.  

Philip Faranda added: “People will come up to us, thank us and tell us about the experience at the farm that they had. And like Mary said earlier, a lot of them are now in their second generation. They were babies, and now they are carrying their baby and telling us about their experience at the farm. We get this all the time.” 

The Farandas also own a piece of land across from the farm, on the opposite side of Penn Avenue, also known as state Route 601. That space includes a parking area specifically built to accommodate tour buses, school buses and automobiles. There is also a natural stream, two football field-sized open spaces for rustic camping and outdoor shower stalls. 

Both parcels of land, and the equipment the Farandas used to operate their agritourism business, is to be included in the sale.

“The wonderful thing that people don’t understand about buying a farm, they think it all has to do with planting crops or whatever,” Mary Faranda said. “This farm is 44-plus acres, but (it also has) regular ADA bathrooms, outbuildings and things that most farms don’t have. 

“And if someone doesn’t want to do everything that we did but would like to have the farm ... maybe they just want to have the Garlic Festival, maybe they just want to sell pumpkins. Maybe they just want to do a couple of things (events). We’re selling the farm with the things (equipment) that are necessary to carry on, so now it becomes a turn-key operation.” 

Faranda Farm is also easy to find for visitors who travel U.S. Route 219 between Johnstown and Somerset.  

“From the marketing standpoint, we are 15 miles from Johnstown and 15 miles from Somerset,” Philip Faranda said. “We are dead center in a major marketing region — and we’re a short distance from a major interstate highway, a little over a quarter-mile from (U.S. Route) 219. We’re extremely easy to find.   

“You could not find a better location for the farm.” 

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Sharing their expertise

The decision to sell has been bittersweet, but the Farandas say they are ready to hand off the farm responsibilities to someone else and pursue other interests. 

“We’re hoping that who we sell it to will carry on what we’ve done,” Philip Faranda said. 

They are also willing to share the business expertise they’ve acquired over nearly 30 years with the next owners. 

“We have 28 years of background information, and they will not start at square one like we did,” Philip Faranda said. “It was a learning experience for us — and every year, you get more experience and you dream bigger.”  

The Farandas said that anyone with a serious interest in the farm should contact them by phone at 814-479-7109 or by email at farandafarm@atlanticbb.net. 

“It’s more than a house, it’s more than just a property,” Mary Faranda said. “It’s so much more than that.” 

"It’s an opportunity to change your lifestyle," Philip Faranda said.