But by the late 90s, the once-respectable farm was weeks from being turned into a suburban cookie-cutter subdivision.
Enter Penny and Armin Rembe. New Mexico transplants since the ‘60s, they’d fallen deeply in love with their adopted state and wanted to make a difference. They cared, and they acted.
Pooling resources with extended family, they bought the farm for a modest sum. Then came the hard part: How could it pay for itself?
They weren’t wealthy enough to make this a hobby.
the lavender gamble
The Rembe family moved onto property and began studying biodynamic and organic farming. They needed low-water crops that could create value-added products. The answer seemed elegantly simple.
Lavender. And they planted fields and fields of it.
Inspired by European agritourism (still rare in America—you’ve heard my soap box!) they dreamed of a hospitality experience rooted in a working farm.
It took seven years just to get the zoning and permits for a proper inn. And this was Albuquerque—not exactly a tourist magnet.
After the kids moved out to attend college, they opened a five-room bed and breakfast. It lost money for five straight years. But they persevered, building trust and demonstrating the positive impact it would have on the local community.
Finally, they got the green light.
That’s when their son Matt moved back, leaving a budding art brokerage career in NYC to “help for a few months.” But he saw the unique opportunity, felt the calling, and stayed to take the vision to the next level.
Then they really started dreaming. And doing.
