About Us

Historic Homestead, Wedding & Party Venue in Gardnerville, NV

Your wedding day, graduation, or anniversary party should leave you and your guests with wonderful memories and stories to tell. Booking your special celebration at Jacobs Berry Farm will do just that, because you’ll be surrounded by living history everywhere you turn. Whether you choose to hold your wedding in our 100-year-old barn or farmhouse or take the festivities outdoors to our spacious, shaded gardens, our historic Gardnerville, NV, homestead will occupy a special place in your heart and mind long after the party is over.

Our history

Jacobs Berry Farm's roots go back to 1872, when Lorens Christensen, a Danish immigrant, was granted property in the Carson Valley of Nevada. A few years later, young Wilhelm Lampe came from Germany to work for the Dangberg Ranch in Minden. By 1887, he had saved enough money to buy the Christensen land and bring his sweetheart Maria over from Germany to be his wife.

Slide title

Write your caption here

Button

Read More

The Lampes lived in a small two-room cabin on the property; actually, the newlyweds lived in one room, while the other room was used as a combination storage room and chicken coop! With their hard work and perseverance, the ranch became successful, so they built an adjoining larger two-room house which served as a large kitchen and dining room for the hired hands who harvested the hay and barley. During the late 19th century, the farm supplied butter and cream to the mining towns of Virginia City and Bodie. As the first of Wilhelm and Maria’s 8 children arrived, they added on a 6-bedroom addition in the then-popular Victorian Gothic style. By the Great Depression, the Lampe Ranch encompassed 300+ acres of the Carson Valley. Ranch operations consisted of cultivating various grains, raising pigs and chickens, and a very profitable dairy.
In 1922, Maria and Wilhelm sold the ranch to their sons Bill and Edward. Bill continued to own and manage the ranch until the early 1970s. By that point, land in the Carson Valley became valuable for development, and the ranch was ideally located for taking advantage of new growth. Various parcels were sold off to become a large part of what is now downtown Gardnerville, NV, including Lampe Park. In 2002, the Jacobs family purchased the remaining 5 acres which include the homestead, barn, dairy, and bunkhouse. The Jacobs were proud and happy to continue the agricultural heritage of this land and share its history with others. They renamed it the Jacobs Family Berry Farm and hosted tour groups from all over the world, including 4th and 5th generation descendants of the Lampe family.

New beginnings

The Nevada Museums and History Board approved the Lampe Ranch property to be listed in the Nevada Register of Historic Places in 2018. In 2021, Joel Hay Nevada Properties purchased the farm. We remain committed to preserving the property and its history and are thankful to all our guests who host events, purchase berries, and provide support to enable us to continue our work.