ST. THOMAS — Walking through the winding paths of the Hideaway Farm, Riise Richards was in awe.
“I’m seeing small plants that I knew as a child with medicinal properties and benefits,” Richards said. “I see guava fruit trees that are, you know, very, very hard to find. I can see a cotton tree. I mean, this is a fascinating array of foliage, vegetation, horticulture.”
Richards, the deputy commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture, toured the Hideaway Farm on Tuesday alongside an array of local dignitaries who joined the public to celebrate the grand opening.
Attendees were greeted by live steel pan music as they wound their way through a grove of fruit trees, palms, and other crops to a clearing with refreshments, many of which incorporated harvests directly from the farm.
“It’s like you go into a different world,” Richards said, describing the venue. “It reminds me of how the garden of Eden might have been.”
The Hideaway Farm sits on nearly two of the five acres belonging to the Hideaway at Hull Bay, a private estate nestled on the Northside of St. Thomas. The property includes luxury lodging in the form of eight cottages and two villas, as well as a bar and restaurant, known as The Shack, which is open to the public.
The endeavor is the brainchild of Lee Steiner, who purchased the property in 2017 with the idea of creating an agritourism business. Tuesday’s ceremony marked the official opening of the third prong of that operation.
“The vision was to revive a fading cultural practice of agriculture in St. Thomas, with a coconut focused farm and farm tour, and pair it with a hospitality component that's more connected to the earth and nature than anything else available on St. Thomas,” Steiner said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen attended and spoke at the event, praising the agritourism business model employed by Steiner and his team at The Hideaway.
“Most of our farmers in the territory have very small acreages,” Petersen said. “And the idea then is how can we use a small acreage or small footprint to get the best return on it. One of those ways is to add value to whatever crops you produce. That's been done here, right now. I'm seeing them producing teas and beverages and other pastries out of the product that they produce, as well as having a place where people can stay on your site. I think this is really going to be the way forward in the territory.”
Kristin Grimes, of the Center of Marine and Environmental Studies at the University of the Virgin Islands, also spoke, and described a mangrove restoration initiative between the university, the Virgin Islands Department of Education and the Hideaway Farm.
“Over 160 students have participated in mangrove restoration at this property alone,” Grimes said. “We've planted over 200 red mangroves in four different out-planting events through fall of last year.”
But while attendees marveled at the natural beauty and bounty, Steiner’s development has run headlong into opposition from some locals who are fervent about keeping Hull Bay a hideaway, without the capital “H.”
A longtime bastion of local fishermen, the introduction of the “barefoot luxury” brand of The Hideaway has been met with resistance from those who believe it is changing the culture of the beach. There are more beach chairs than ever before, as one resident put it.
“It used to be a really local beach, the heart of our community,” said one Northside resident. “My fear is that our community is getting pushed out, and that this is becoming another tourist beach.”
But Steiner views his endeavor as a way of preserving the legacy of the bay, not erasing it.
“This valley has a history of agriculture, and we're just continuing that history of agriculture,” Steiner said. “I think a lot of the pushback is based on things that are not accurate about what is actually happening here. And I encourage anybody who's interested in what's going on to come and see for themselves, and they can make their own decision.”
Much of the tension surrounding the Hideaway at Hull Bay is representative of the larger issue faced by the Virgin Islands of whether local sanctuaries can survive in a tourism economy.
“I believe they can coexist,” said Senator Marvin Blyden, who attended the farm’s grand opening on Tuesday. “I believe that in time people will learn, they will grow to appreciate what this can do for us as a territory. I look forward to other developments like this one, where we can offer something different, something unique, and we can basically show our culture in a different way.”
