For years, Bunker Hill Farms was hardly publicized, accessed via invite-only and mostly used by celebrities or the well-connected. Even people in the small neighboring towns barely know it exists. But when the Covid 19 pandemic hit, organizers decided to pivot and open the property to the public. Business boomed. It’s now used for buddies’ trips, corporate outings, couples’ getaways, family retreats and weddings. For anything, really — a group recently rented it out to play Dungeons & Dragons.
All proceeds go to Bunker Hill Charities, which has granted more than $2 million to 70-plus agencies in the local community. Much of that money is generated through two of their annual fund-raisers, their Rockin’ the Hill and Songwriters’ Concert. Steven Tyler, Tyler Hubbard and Styx are just a few of the musical acts who have stayed and played here. The walls of the two homes are plastered with signed guitars and photos of other musicians who have also spent time on property.
It’s an eight-person minimum for your stay, and the property has 13 guest rooms. The damage is roughly $1,150 a person per day, and that gets you everything — unlimited food and drinks, a personal chef, your own golf course, ATVs, skeet shooting, luxurious accommodations and basically anything else you want to do. The best part? Your only other company is a couple of staffers who are around during the day and dedicated to making sure your stay is as easy and memorable as possible, doing everything from running out to buy something you may have forgotten or fix you a drink. That makes it a truly unique, customizable, all-inclusive luxury experience.
The cottage has six bedrooms, a fitness center, entertainment area, an expansive outdoor seating area (and fireplace) as well as a screened-in porch bigger than most New York City apartments. The lodge across the street has four bedrooms, a jacuzzi, lakes, beaches and the golf course. Neither home skimped on the fine details.
Our first day we rode ATVs and then munched on appetizers and sipped on drinks in the old open-air Binz Dairy Farm barn next to the cottage. That space has been transformed into a serene outdoor oasis, with running water, plants, flowers and music of your choice (we went with Chris Stapleton) pumping through the hidden speakers.
The barn was also the site of our first dinner, which was a heavenly four-course meal prepared by the resort’s chef, Mario Scordato.
Scordato started his own pasta company and teaches cooking classes, but his primary gig is at Bunker Hill Farms, where he makes guests mouthwatering lunches and dinners. He’s a wizard who focuses on local, organic and seasonal and will make you leave desperately missing his sweet-corn risotto and booze-infused fruit.
The next morning (our only full day on-site) began with a light breakfast before we walked a couple hundreds yards to the shooting pavilion, where their expert had us taking turns firing at clay pigeons and targets spread out across the range. Of course, you don’t have to do this. There’s also yoga and a spa and a pontoon and paddle boards and kayaks and hiking and horseback riding and, for a slight upgrade, even helicopter tours and hot-air balloon rides.
After a quick lunch — pork tenderloin! (when is that ever served for lunch?!) — we shuttled over to the other side of the property for our tee time. Armed with a forecaddie, we stocked our carts with snacks and drinks and fishing poles because, well, you never know when you might want to cast a few, just to say you did.
The course, designed by Harry Vignocchi, is an 18-hole par-72 that tips out at 6,700 yards. It’s almost hidden among the property, and the reversible layout — they call it “unorthodox” — uses eight greens, some of the same fairways and several tee boxes to create 18 different holes. One green — you’ll play it as the 5th, 8th and 14th holes — is guarded by water and a stone facade and played from an island tee box. Another hole (the 7th) calls for a semi-blind second shot into a green where the aiming point is just off to the side of a waterfall.
The greens are some of the purest you’ll ever play. They get less than 250 rounds a year, which is roughly the amount of traffic a popular public course gets in a day. There’s a superintendent who has a staff of about a half-dozen who maintains the entire property, including the course.
The freedom is intoxicating. There’s no starter or marshal to tell you to pick up the pace or to stop playing as an eightsome. You can play as few or as many holes as you want. Take a mulligan. Re-tee. Skip a hole. You are the king of the course to do what you please.
After golf, we stayed on that side of the property and rode ATVs again (it was such a blast we didn’t get enough of it the first time). Then we ate flatbreads, fished and swam out to the massive inflatable in the middle of the lake like we were teenagers again. After a dip in the jacuzzi, our final dinner Scordato served up was his homemade Bucatini and shrimp.
That night we puffed on cigars that are available to guests. We rookies had no idea if any of them were any good — spoiler: they were — but at Bunker Hill Farms, it feels right to indulge.
