Allison Van Akkeren property

Allison Van Akkeren (shown below) is most at peace when on wilderness trips and focuses on living lightly on the earth. She built her first home, a mile by foot from the road, using hand tools. She bought the Lowell property in 1990, thinking of possibly establishing a homestead there. With her husband Adrian Owens and son Kestrel, she now lives closer to the Sterling College campus in a home they built and designed to be energy efficient and off the grid. They commute to work/school by bike, foot or skis.

Allison grows and preserves most of their family’s fruits and vegetables each year. She has been on the Sterling College faculty since 1991. She moved to Craftsbury in 1985 lured by the excellent cross-country skiing at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Allison has a passion for eating whole and local foods, and she has been an active educator and implementer in that regard for more than 30 years.

The second photo below shows Kestrel at a cellar hole on the conserved property, which lies at the foot of the Lowell Mountain range.