Welcome to 166 Juniper Trail, a 17 acre horse farm located on the SE side of town in a small equestrian community, minutes away from the Florida Horse Park with access to the Santos Trail system. The main section of this historic home, built in 1892, was once located on Fort King Street in downtown Ocala, across from the old First Baptist Church, which sadly burned down in 1991. Today there is a plaque commemorating where the church was once located.
Stacey Rollins of Hudson Phillips Properties has the listing to this property, which has an interesting back story. In 1992 after the fire, the historic house was moved to an 88 acre tract of land, where today the farm sits on 17 acres with three large paddocks surrounding the expanded house. Guests enter the historic portion of the house via a large front porch with a charming swing. The original house has retained it’s historic appeal with hardwoods throughout, and a recent addition with a large chef’s kitchen and master suite was created for modern day living.
Stacey acquired the listing through her friends who are the current owners. “I knew the owners who raised their kids there, and I always remember it full of life with dogs, horses, and one pot belly pig named Charlie Bacon. I hope to find another family that it will also bring as much joy.”
Unique to this property is it’s 100% renewable solar power, which powers the entire farm and creates excess which the county purchases for the additional energy supply. This is Florida living at its best with an outdoor kitchen, a heated pool and water feature, which overlooks the newly painted 6 stall center aisle barn. There are 3 large pastures, a riding arena and new fencing.
Another interesting discovery happened during the recent renovation, when the home’s original skeleton key was found in an old light fixture. The key is now proudly displayed in a frame, waiting for it’s new family to write the next chapter of this special home’s story.
Partnering with VOCAL for The Dog Adoption Photo Shoot
Over the past few year’s, Matt Varney, the Desino’s and Stacey have been involved with VOCAL (Voices of Change Animal League) by raising awareness of this great 501C3 and helping fund raise by attending the annual Furball Gala. The current owner of the Juniper Trail property is a Vet, and with the upcoming Furball, an idea was hatched to help promote the VOCAL fundraiser through a photo shoot on the property.
Stacey explained how the idea all came together, “I’m a big believer in partnerships, if you want to be successful you need to be involved in your community. I fell in love with VOCAL when a group of locals came together for a common purpose, to bring an end to the homeless pet problem in our community. This means working with county residents and other organizations.”
Ultimately, Stacey and the owner wanted to have the dogs out to the property to take photos to help get them adopted, as the owner of the property is hoping that next family to buy the farm will be a dog and horse lover. Stacey firmly believes that it is a true American dream to acquire a farm, and that perhaps the new owners would be interested in rescuing a dog in current foster care at VOCAL.
“In my youth I was in 4-H and showed German Shepherds. Growing up on a farm it just seemed natural to have a dog. I was so impressed with the VOCAL dog’s behavior for this photo shoot at my new farm listing, I even consider becoming a foster parent. My goal and hope is that someone sees this farm photo shoot and gets inspired to own land and adopt a pet.”
The dogs were professionally photographed by Christin Hayes for the upcoming FurBall Gala. The pups were really great to work with and enjoyed the attention. Stacey’s daughter, Charlee Jo Rollins, was her little assistant for the day, along with VOCAL volunteers, and they were thrilled with how well mannered the dogs were throughout the photo shoot.
Several of the photos will be featured at the Furball Gala, which is once again being held at Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club on Saturday, February 8th. The team at Hudson Phillips Properties hopes that you’ll join them for this incredible community event, which raising the much needed funds to continue VOCAL’s efforts with their spay/neuter clinic and eliminating the homeless animal issue in Marion County.
To purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE TO visit their website.
To set up an appointment to see this charming property, please visit the listing link here and reach out to Stacey Rollins directly at 515-422-0135 or [email protected]
Featured pups in our photoshoot are: Cleo, the gorgeous white and brown Pitbull, Stephanie the Shiztzu, Keylo the white Bulldog, Peanut the hound mix on the porch with Mikey, a tan Boxer/ Lab mix, Sam the black lab. More information on these adorable dogs can be found on VOCAL’S Adoption Page!
