Ashbourne Farms is the agricultural legacy of W.L. Lyons Brown and Sally [Shallenberger] Brown. A wedding gift to the young couple in 1937–several Scottish Shorthorn cattle and a bull–given by Sally’s grandfather, Ashton Cokayne Shallenberger, the fifteenth governor of Nebraska, launched the makings of the property that stands today.

Ashton Cokayne Shallenberger owned a farm in Nebraska, called Ashbourne, where he bred shorthorns for a living. After his death in 1938, W.L. Lyons Brown and Sally named their budding property Ashbourne Farms in her grandfather’s honor. From meager beginnings, the Browns built the farm from the ground up, suffusing the property with a deep love of agriculture and nature. This legacy is the foundation upon which the modern day iteration of Ashbourne Farms flourishes.

Years of thoughtful care went into restoring the property to the picturesque splendor of its heyday; the entire farm is now listed on the national historic register. On it stands a restored version of the original farmhouse, built in the late 1800’s, along with a number of other revived structures. More than that, Ashbourne Farms nurtures its vision of preservation and natural conservation with intention. In doing so, its family members opened Ashbourne Farms to the public, so that its beauty could be relished by others for generations to come.