Finding Rodale: The J. I. Rodale Farm at Last!

J.I. Rodale's original farmhouse--birthplace of the organic farming movement--is now owned and maintained by the Rodale Institute and called "Founders Farm."

“You can stay in the J. I. Rodale house.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. For over a year, I’d been trying to track down the location of the original farm that J. I. Rodale purchased in 1941. The farm where the organic movement started. The farm that thousands of people visited every year until the Rodale Institute moved to the “New Farm” in the 1970s. But so far, my efforts had been futile. And now, Maria Rodale was inviting me to actually stay there!

I’d been close—really close—in 2024. I even stayed one night at an Airbnb in Allentown, spending the evening on my computer zooming in on Google Maps, intensely scrutinizing my DeLorme Pennsylvania Atlas and Gazetteer, and comparing them to an old map I’d run across in a 1951 issue of The Organic Farmer. But the old map maddeningly neglected to mention either the name of the road the farm was on or the name of the closest cross street, and it wasn’t drawn to scale. All it said was, “Turn South at the White Horse in Dorneyville,” and not only was the White Horse long gone, but I couldn’t even find Dorneyville amongst Allentown’s suburban sprawl. There are four freeways in the area that weren’t there in 1951, and the roads look so different that the old map didn’t help me at all. Needless to say, I never found the farm.

This 1951 map wasn't very helpful because it was stylized to begin with, the roads have changed, and the White Horse no longer exists.

I went home after that trip fearing I would never get a chance to see the original Rodale farm. Every time I tried to write about J. I. going back to the land, I just couldn’t picture it. In my frustration, I even titled one of my draft chapters “The Elusive Rodale.” That’s where things were when, in pretty much my last attempt to get information, I sent an email to Maria Rodale, J. I. Rodale’s granddaughter, not really expecting to get a reply. To my surprise and elation, she got really excited about my project because she is working on her own book about organic history (we both agree our books will be complementary, not competitive). She invited me to come back to Pennsylvania to not only tour the original farm, but actually stay in the original farmhouse. “You let guests stay there?” I asked incredulously. “Special guests,” she replied. I guess I qualified as a special guest!

With the actual address in hand, I had no trouble finding the farm when I headed down from Walnut Acres to Allentown on August 26, 2025. It didn’t look very promising when all I could see after getting off the freeway was a huge hospital complex, but then I turned down a side road—and there it was. I parked my car near one of the barns and was warmly greeted by the farm manager, Jenni. I looked briefly around at the huge, historic barn, and then a couple other Rodale Institute employees arrived to show me to my room. The house was sprawling and beautiful, and it felt like touring a museum as we walked through the dining room (with busts of J. I. and Anna Rodale on the sideboard), living room (with portraits of J. I. and Anna on the walls), and huge library. Then they took me upstairs to the end of a long hallway and said, “Here’s your room.”

J.I. and Anna Rodale used a cultured but not flamboyant decorating style, as evidenced in the dining room.

The living room features portraits of J.I. and Anna Rodale.

Later that evening—after a wonderful dinner with Maria, her family, and several other organic farming folks—I returned to my room. All the Rodale Institute employees left for the night, and it was just me in that big, beautiful house. I’ve toured lots of historic houses which are now operated as museums, but this was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to stay in one. I almost thought I might be dreaming, but I knew I wasn’t because I would have never imagined the Rodale house looking as cool as it actually does. I just sat there in my room, soaking in the experience. Finally, after years of searching, I had found it. The Rodale farm and family had finally come alive for me.

Getting to actually spend the night in the J.I. Rodale house was a dream come true for me.