Worthenbury Country House - in Michigan's Famous Wine Country

About Andy Dow

Steve Salisbury: I was born and spent most of my childhood in Chicago and it's suburbs. The remainder of my years "at home" were at this house. Living here during my teenage years, I attended a local high school. After graduation it was college, then a career at a local company until a few years ago when I decided to go into consulting, and moved back to Chicago. Now I live in Hyde Park, and go to Worthenbury from time to time to enjoy the peace and beauty of the country.

Andy Dow purchased this House in 1966

Why Andy Dow chose Baroda Township

In 1966 my parents sought property in Michigan. Living in the suburbs of Chicago, they wanted to live in the country. In October we purchased a nearby 30 acre farm. Over time we purchased the farm on which this house stands, taking our total acreage near 60 acres. In 1968, we met Len Olsen and Carl Banholzer as we traversed the property they had just purchased to establish Tabor Hill winery. My father was one of the first to plant French Hybrid grapes on the soils of this hilly country. From the 1950's through the 1980's, this farm hosted dozens of families who would come out for a day of picking fresh fruit. In our prime, we had 15 acres of grapes, 4 acres of cherries and 3 acres of peaches. We also had 60 honeybee hives and sold all of the honey to these same good people. Finally, we had a wine maker's shop, where we sold barrels, jugs and other materials for people to make their own wine. Through the years, my parents sold the original 30 acres and eventually this became the home of the now famous Round Barn winery. Later, my parents sold another 10 acres at the north end of the property, leaving about 18 acres on which this house now stands. When I decided to open this house as a guest house, I wanted to call it a name that would be meaningful that would set it apart. I wanted a name that would recognize its great rural wine growing heritage, and something to honor the "Salisbury" name. After an exhaustive search and much deliberation, I settled on the name Worthenbury. Worthenbury is the name of a small, rural village in the northeastern area of Wales. It is one of the only places in Wales where grapes are grown. It is also in the proximity of the area from which the Salisbury's originally came to the New World in 1632, among the first settlers of New England.

What makes this House unique

Worthenbury sits atop a knoll giving us a gentle breeze on even the stillest of days. The back porch is a great place to relax and look out over the vineyards. Strolling through the vineyards is also a pleasant experience, with views stretching for miles to the west. The big red barn dates back to 1922. Today it is used for storage. When the fruit was in full production, the barn housed the wine supply store and the 'nectary', where the sweet nectar was processed and bottled.