History of Cedar Oak Farm B&B
The property is in Dallas County and was an abandoned farm that last functioned circa 1910. The owner’s at that time where the Applegates. He was also a wagon builder and the blacksmith shop was located next to the original log cabin whose fireplace is still visible on the southern section of the main field, south of the B & B. The log cabin burned down circa 1900 and he began a new foundation about 30 yards west of the old house. The dugout trenches are still visible with the stones piled and waiting. He died before he could build the new house and from that time forward it was just used for hunting leases and not worked as a farm.
We found the property about 25 years ago as a place to come and ride ATVs with our children. The road to the farm, at that time was unpaved, the proverbial dirt road. The road now is paved. One afternoon, the current owner, a farmer / land flipper, asked if we wished to buy it and Cedar Oak Farm began in 1995 with 90 acres. The current driveway was installed and the 10 acre field was cleared back to the original fence lines of the Applegate pastures. For many years we began planning and cleaning up the property, adding to what is now about 200 acres of land totally managed for wildlife and our B & B guests. We reach to the south within yards of the Niangua River.
The house and B&B level itself was designed by a leading architect in Springfield, Missouri based on an open floor plan my wife and I fell in love with in a house in Alabama. Some changes were needed to become a great home and B & B; the exterior walls are 6 inches thick making heating and cooling very efficient and for a quiet night’s sleep; we have two fireplaces capable of heating the entire home just with the cycling fans; it has a full generator backup system that will run all critical needs of the home in an emergency for weeks if need be; a fully equipped concrete tornado shelter is built into the home “just in case”; we added a separate secure entrance for the B & B and finally, what I call a world class deck and patio were added for my wife. All that being put into plans we began construction in June of 2006, completing the majority in March 2007. All of the outside landscaping and fencing was completed by yours truly and still continues today.
Some interesting numbers; the driveway is a little over a ¼ mile long, it took 560,000 pounds, 260 tons, of concrete to pour the foundation which sits on solid bedrock. We sit at 1,100 feet above sea level, one of the highest points in the county and we have a full weather station here which transmits data to NOAA every 30 minutes and is accessible from the internet.
We now have miles of trails and fire lanes on the property and perform heavy wildlife habitat work from timber stand improvements to food plots and wildlife openings, working all year long and have joint research projects with the Missouri Department of Conservation. The farm is also the home of the Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation (QUWF), a national wildlife conservation organization, the only veteran founded/ managed conservation organization in the U.S. and the only one using a multiple specie approach.
The 40 acres around the house are a breeding and brooding area with no hunting allowed. Critters in abundance that you may see; whitetail deer, rabbits, turkey, doves (they are here year round), bobcats, coyotes and even an occasional bear near the river. We have many owls, purple martins, cardinals, blue birds, finches, blue jays, an occasional bald eagle, chickadees and our special attraction is a very large population of hummingbirds from April 15th to September 15th.The hummers consume about a gallon a day until the young fledge then it is 2 gallons a day with an estimated 60 to 80 birds.
We found the property about 25 years ago as a place to come and ride ATVs with our children. The road to the farm, at that time was unpaved, the proverbial dirt road. The road now is paved. One afternoon, the current owner, a farmer / land flipper, asked if we wished to buy it and Cedar Oak Farm began in 1995 with 90 acres. The current driveway was installed and the 10 acre field was cleared back to the original fence lines of the Applegate pastures. For many years we began planning and cleaning up the property, adding to what is now about 200 acres of land totally managed for wildlife and our B & B guests. We reach to the south within yards of the Niangua River.
The house and B&B level itself was designed by a leading architect in Springfield, Missouri based on an open floor plan my wife and I fell in love with in a house in Alabama. Some changes were needed to become a great home and B & B; the exterior walls are 6 inches thick making heating and cooling very efficient and for a quiet night’s sleep; we have two fireplaces capable of heating the entire home just with the cycling fans; it has a full generator backup system that will run all critical needs of the home in an emergency for weeks if need be; a fully equipped concrete tornado shelter is built into the home “just in case”; we added a separate secure entrance for the B & B and finally, what I call a world class deck and patio were added for my wife. All that being put into plans we began construction in June of 2006, completing the majority in March 2007. All of the outside landscaping and fencing was completed by yours truly and still continues today.
Some interesting numbers; the driveway is a little over a ¼ mile long, it took 560,000 pounds, 260 tons, of concrete to pour the foundation which sits on solid bedrock. We sit at 1,100 feet above sea level, one of the highest points in the county and we have a full weather station here which transmits data to NOAA every 30 minutes and is accessible from the internet.
We now have miles of trails and fire lanes on the property and perform heavy wildlife habitat work from timber stand improvements to food plots and wildlife openings, working all year long and have joint research projects with the Missouri Department of Conservation. The farm is also the home of the Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation (QUWF), a national wildlife conservation organization, the only veteran founded/ managed conservation organization in the U.S. and the only one using a multiple specie approach.
The 40 acres around the house are a breeding and brooding area with no hunting allowed. Critters in abundance that you may see; whitetail deer, rabbits, turkey, doves (they are here year round), bobcats, coyotes and even an occasional bear near the river. We have many owls, purple martins, cardinals, blue birds, finches, blue jays, an occasional bald eagle, chickadees and our special attraction is a very large population of hummingbirds from April 15th to September 15th.The hummers consume about a gallon a day until the young fledge then it is 2 gallons a day with an estimated 60 to 80 birds.