THIS SPREAD , CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE , TOP : Butterfly Farm sells farm-fresh eggs , grass-fed beef , chicken , pork , flowers and vegetables at the farm stand on Great Road ; cows stroll the farmland ; the farm ’ s staff , from left , Bella Ridge , Nikki Tyler , owner Dan Flynn and Mason Zonfrillo , help keep the farm running ; Flynn tends to the farm .
According to Blackstone Valley Historical Society records , as late as the 1960s , Lincoln was home to roughly 200 dairy farms , Butterfly Farm included . But , over the past seventy years , Lincoln ’ s landscape shifted from pastoral countryside to a different sort of quietude rooted in suburban comfort .
“ The farm used to be called Mariposa Farm ( Spanish for “ butterfly ”) and a smaller piece of it was connected to Hearthside House ,” Flynn says , referencing the stone homestead next door , colloquially known as “ The House That Love Built ” — or , depending on your vantage point , “ Heartbreak House .” Hearthside , built in 1810 , was constructed by its owner with lottery earnings in hopes its grandeur would woo a city socialite into moving to the countryside . But Lincoln ’ s rolling farmland , corralled by historic stone walls , was too rural for the young lady , who declined his proposal .
Butterfly Farm ’ s first owners , Flynn says , may have been similarly disenchanted with the land .
“ The Sayles family bought it as a tax write-off ,” he says , referencing the textile empire family who bought the land in 1907 . But when the neighbors next door , who owned the beloved Chase
Farm , experienced a barn fire and had nowhere to milk their cows , they bought Butterfly Farm .
“ When the Chase family sold their dairy cows , the farms were separated again ,” says Flynn . Butterfly Farm was then purchased by Gil and Betty Smith and , when they passed away , their daughter , Joyce , carried on their legacy .
In 1991 , a few years after the Chase family gave their land to the town of Lincoln for $ 1 to preserve it as open space for generations to come , the Smiths sold the development rights to Butterfly Farm so it would never be sliced up for residential construction . Shortly thereafter , at around age six , Flynn found his first footing on the farm . Introduced by a family friend , a cousin of the Smiths ’, Flynn spent carefree childhood days roaming the land .
“ We ’ d run a little snack bar during Christmas tree tagging season with cider , pastries and candy ,” he says , adding that the two boys ate up most of their profits . The Christmas tree crop kept the farm afloat year-round .
His earliest days at the farm were the manifestation of a childhood obsession , Flynn says . His father , a former Lincoln town councilor , would drive him to the horse farms in town to look at the animals . Flynn had “ every farm toy you can imagine ” as a child , he says . And when he got a little older , those toys were traded for tools as he helped care for Butterfly Farm ’ s animals , grow flowers , sell Christmas trees , and perform general maintenance on the farm buildings .
The work informed his collegiate path to the University of Rhode Island , where he double majored in animal science and plant science . Upon graduation , he launched an all-natural garden design company that emphasized ecological balance in landscaping . He also worked as an animal science instructor at Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton , Massachusetts . Then , he got word that Joyce Smith was looking to retire . “ Nobody had any idea she was ready to sell ,” says Flynn . “ I was twenty-seven at the time , and not planning on purchasing anything of that stature , but I told her , ‘ I ’ m going to buy the farm .’ It was an extremely stressful process . I was teaching and bartending and putting every penny away that I could .”
He eventually amassed enough for a down payment on the $ 550,000 , seventy-seven-acre property and , in 2016 , it was his . Smith kept four acres and built a home for herself on that property — close enough for her to serve as a mentor as Flynn assumed ownership and made his mark . Inside the original barn , a sign denotes the year it was built : 1915 , exactly 101 years before Flynn assumed ownership .
“ I always loved the farm since I was a little kid , but I ’ m also passionate about the role it plays in the community ,” he says . “ I wanted to take that further and make it a home base for everyone to be able to go to their local farm .”
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2024 65