Working with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, NBW developed a master plan for a Youth Education and 4-H facility at Lone Oaks Farm in Middleton, Tennessee. Encompassing 1,200 acres of pasture, woodlands, trails, and lakes, Lone Oaks Farm reflects the layered agricultural and ecological character of West Tennessee. As a working farm with active livestock and hay production, the master plan supports the farm’s continued and sustainable growth while advancing conservation and landscape restoration. It establishes a national model for youth education that fosters long-term appreciation for land stewardship, agriculture, and conservation.
An overarching framework organizes the site around three primary programmatic elements: youth education, agriculture, and hospitality. Each is situated where it can thrive most fully—youth education in the eastern hills, hospitality and leisure to the west, and working agricultural operations centrally located between them. This intentional separation allows each precinct to function independently while maintaining meaningful overlap that supports Lone Oaks Farm’s educational mission. Throughout the site, activity spaces are carefully integrated into the landscape so that learning, play, and land are inseparable.
The master planning process began with extensive research to document and understand the site. Local and regional histories—from geologic formation and Civil War activity to present-day agricultural use—shaped the conceptual framework and design strategies. Topography and hydrology provided powerful organizational cues, with streams, lakes, ridgelines, and ravines guiding patterns of movement, use, and restoration. A spring BioBlitz inventory further revealed the site’s ecological richness, informing opportunities for habitat enhancement and long-term monitoring. Design recommendations throughout the plan are directly rooted in this research-based understanding of the land.
