Cair Paravel has been in the family since 1968 when Jeanne F. and Cecil C.H.Cullander purchased 183 acres of mountain land from Jack, Jesse and Lottie Breeden and E.C. Compton/Dabney Davis. The Breedens, originally settled on Lewis Mountain and were displaced during the creation of Shenandoah National Park.

Every summer, holiday and weekend the Cullander family- Cecil, Jeanne, Christopher, Eric, Martha and Nicholas- would pack up the International Harvester Travel-All and head from the city to the farm. Originally living in a simple log structure with no running water or electricity their summers were filled with hiking, riding horses, bathing in the rivers and creeks, battling grapevines, clearing meadows, working in the large vegetable garden and canning/preserving food for winter.

As the Cullander children grew up and scattered to Oregon, California, Idaho, and New Mexico Cecil and Jeanne moved full time to Cair Paravel. With the move they started to expand the farmstead adding dairy goats, sheep, ducks and chickens.

With Jeanne’s passing in 1984 Whitt and Martha Cullander Ledford returned to Virginia bringing their children and purchasing *83 acres from Cecil. The Ledford family is now the custodians of this marvelous land.

In 2017 Whitt and Martha’s youngest daughter Madi and partner Grant moved to Cair Paravel. With the birth of Cy the farmstead became a fourth generation endeavor. Although Lillian + Howard; Mia + Brendan and their children Henry & Wyatt; Gretchen + Austin don’t live at the farmstead they are frequent visitors helping with many of the farmstead projects. 

You may also see our long term tenants, Mark and Ruth, working the trails and enjoy the lovely mountains. They have been much loved member of the Cair Paravel Farmstead since 2014 and have become family. If you see Mark out and about be sure to thank him for building all the wonderful trails that surround the property.

*Cecil’s other acreage was sold with beneficiaries being the Southern Environmental Legal Defense Fund and the  University of Wisconsin’s Department of Scandinavian Studies Madison.

Water:

• Our water comes from Shenandoah National park into our deep water wells and fresh out the tap. There is no need to filter, but we provide a Brita in the fridge if you wish. Please refrain from bringing any plastic water bottles, and just your reusable

Heating and Cooling:

• During the winter please do not set the thermostats above 68 degrees. We suggest that you wear winter layers and bring slippers or socks for your feet.

• During the summer please do not set the thermostat more than 10 degrees cooler than the outside air.

Non-Paper Products:

• Cloth napkins are provided. Cleaning cloths for spills and messes are in the drawers in the kitchen. Please collect at the end of your stay and place with other dirty linens.

• We do provide some paper towels we request that you use the cloth products as much as possible.

  Compost & Recycling:

• We compost as much as possible. All food scraps EXCEPT MEAT can be placed into the compost. We feed your scraps to our chickens, goats, and pigs. Please REMOVE STICKERS.

• Each unit has a recycling bin which we sort into our larger recycling center upon check-out. Please rinse and clean all recycling before placing in bin. We recycle: metal, cardboard and paper. 

  Eco Products:

• We use Dropps in all our units for dishwasher and washing machine pods.

• We use eco- friendly reusable rags for scrubbing and bleaching out the units

• We use Who Gives a Crap for our paper towel and toilet paper need.

• We buy all out unscented shampoo, conditioner, and soap products in gallon bulk to cut down on plastic bottle waste

• We line our garbage cans in old newspapers to cut back on plastic bag waste.

• We buy coffee, oil , and spices for out units in bulk from our local co-op to cut down on waste.