Perfect!-100+ 5-Star reviews! Great View, PRIVACY, Fire Place! DOGs WELCOME!

About Bruce Batten

Vista Country Home is located on Fiddler's Green, our working farm producing organic herbs and honey in the gorgeous rolling hills of Maryland countryside that has been in our family for 5 generations. Owner/managers are siblings Bruce, Chris and Mary Batten, who grew up playing in these creeks and fields, riding horses, milking cows, bailing hay, etc. Bruce's wife, Toni, and Chris' wife, Melissa are essential parts of our family team. Here, where Big Pipe Creek joins Bear Branch on our property, we would wander the banks where Civil War soldiers camped the day before the battle that shaped the history of our nation. It was here we gained our appreciation of history, and the sacrifices made by our ancestors for the blessings that we enjoy today. Chris and wife Melissa are the on-site managers who lives in the ante-bellum farmhouse nearby. Bruce and Mary divide their time between Vista and Fiddlers Green, and their other residences in Alaska.

Why Bruce Batten chose Carroll County

Our family built Vista Country Home, designed by the award-winning, Registered Landscape Architect Chris Batten, on our family farm known as Fiddler's Green in 1990. It was originally built for and home to US Navy Capt. (ret.) Hugh N. Batten, a WWII fighter ace, and his wife Mary Thomas 'Tommy' Batten. Both are now deceased. This location with its ancient barn and ante-bellum farmhouse has been a family farm for some 200 years, and looks much the same as it did 150 years ago during the Civil War, when Confederate forces invaded Maryland numerous times. Scores of battles large and small raged within short distances from this farm. Tens of thousands of soldiers marched through these fields, or camped along Pipe Creek, which runs through this property, on their way to destiny at Gettysburg. Its proximity to Gettysburg, Antietam, and other National Parks and battle grounds makes it an ideal home base for day trips to some of the world's finest battlefield visitors centers, as well as all the visitor attractions of both Baltimore and Washington D.C. But in addition to its location in a America's historic heartland, Vista is situated among some of America's most charming countryside, small towns, and neighbor farms. We wanted to share this magical place with people who love history and this country's agrarian roots.

What makes this Country house/chateau unique

--Plenty of space, indoors and outside with spectacular gardens and spectacular views: hundreds of acres of your private estate! --Gorgeous gas-fired fireplace in living room--romantic & cozy inside when it's chilly outside! --More than 2 miles of PRIVATE trails for hiking, biking, jogging, X-C skiing, through pristine rolling countryside and woodlands, along streams. --Modern comforts of Central AC, 2 HD-TVs, DVDs, WiFi, games table, books. --TWO outdoor patio areas, both ideal for al fresco dining, with fountain, BBQ pavilion, hacienda-style walled-in garden, lots of outdoor seating in sunshine or the shade of magnificent oaks, maples, and dozens of ornamental flowering plants and trees. --CLOSE (less than 3 miles) to great businesses & services, including supermarkets, restaurants, recreation--even two 'Dollar' stores! Also, a fabulous antiques mall--one of Marylands largest! --Easy access for day trips to Gettysburg, Antietam, Baltimore, Washington, and many of America's finest visitor destinations!