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Clermont, Georgia

Tale of a Sanctuary

Where Wonderful Lives

Dogwood Farm is a 50-acre oasis of wildlife, wildflowers, quiet places, and enchanted gardens in Clermont, GA. Privately owned by bestselling author, leadership expert, and well-known speaker John Addison, Dogwood Farm began as a respite from the daily rigors of corporate governance. Addison is also the former co-CEO of Primerica, the largest financial services sales force in North America.

Recently designated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, Dogwood Farm’s gently rolling hills and old-growth forest is home to deer, turkey, rabbits, the occasional fox, as well as a host of other species native to the North Georgia mountains.

A Proper English Garden

Ferme Ornée

At the heart of Dogwood Farm is Addison’s personally designed courtyard-style English garden. The term ferme ornee translates to ornamental farm, and while that is the aesthetic Addison created, the farm is far beyond ornamental.

Dogwood Farm boasts fields of flowers that bloom seasonally. Daffodils in the early spring, to Sweet William and daisies in late April and early May, along with mammoth sunflowers in the heat of summer, all to the delight of the honey bees located just beyond the orchard. Fruit trees, homegrown vegetables, and even a deluxe chicken coop dubbed Chickenham Palace, are clear evidence that the farm produces marketable goods.

Take a Picture, Skip a Rock, Listen to the Whippoorwills Call

COMING SOON:
Dogwood Farm is a photographer’s dream and is available by appointment for 2-hour and 4-hour sessions. Outdoor locations include wildflower fields, an English garden, a pond, woodlands, giant oaks, and more. The farm is perfect for senior portraits, engagement and maternity photos, and bridal portraits. The farm does not host outside events at this time.

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Wildflowers

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Pond

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Woodlands

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English Garden

Southern Charm with a side of Old World Beauty

A Fondness for History, A Reverence for the Land.

John Addison has a fondness for history, and particularly, that of the old country. Dogwood Farm marries the utility of a producing fruit and vegetable farm with the sophistication of formal gardens found on estates in the English countryside.

The farm is an interesting juxtaposition of both Appalachian heritage and a passage out of In the Garden by Jane Austen.

A Recent Honor

In early 2021, the Addisons were delighted to learn their beloved Dogwood Farm had been added to the National Wildlife Federation’s designated list of Certified Wildlife Habitats.

“What an incredible honor it is to have our farm selected to be among the other wonderful wildlife habitats in the United States! We are thrilled to be a part of such an exclusive group,” Addison stated.

“Nature will not be admired by proxy.” ~ Winston Churchill
Churchill said, “Nature never draws a line without smudging it.” Even the hard edges of the courtyard garden are blurred by the overflow of foliage, or adorned by the hovering butterfly. Once you visit, your mental snapshot of Dogwood Farm is a tapestry of towering oaks, lush meadows, ripe blackberries, the low hum of busy bees making honey, and the feeling of enchantment that only comes from nature.