Ligonier Township farm with 175-year legacy lists for $1.8 million
The next owners of a 150-acre Ligonier Township property won’t just be buying a farm — they’ll be continuing a legacy.
About a mile north of Ligonier Borough, Kananga Farm is listed with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services for $1,825,000.
“It has a history to take into the future. To me, that’s very important,” said realtor Annette Ganassi, the listing agent. “In most communities, farming is going away, but we still have farming in the valley.
“This farm has a tradition going back 175 years. It’s a legacy.”
Known in the area as the historic Marker Farm, the property at 213 Peoples Road in recent years has been home to a herd of grass-fed Red Devon beef cattle raised by current owners Kim and Dianne Miller, who took over in 2008.
The rolling hills of Kananga Farm include a renovated farmhouse dating to 1850, a Civil War-era barn, several more outbuildings, a stream and 52 fenced paddocks, each with a water source.
The farm has a designated Agricultural Conservation Easement, meaning it cannot be developed and will remain a farm in perpetuity.
Prior to the Millers buying the farm, it had been sold to the Loyalhanna Watershed Association by owner Harry Marker.
“The reason (the LWA) wanted us to buy it was that they knew we would farm it sustainably and organically, and that’s what we’ve done — though I prefer to call it regenerative agriculture,” Kim Miller said.
The farm gets its name from Kananga, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Miller worked in the late 1970s building power lines with Morrison-Knudsen International Co.
“I was trying to come up with a snappy name,” he said.
‘Incredible remodel’
The Millers previously practiced sustainable agriculture on a smaller farm in Salem Township, while also working in real estate development and other businesses. They’re selling Kananga Farm in preparation for retirement and to spend more time with their grandchildren.
The Millers treated the two-story brick farmhouse to a total renovation, doing much of the work themselves. The house had last been renovated in 1969.
“Mr. Miller is a fine woodworker in addition to being a fine farmer,” Ganassi said. “It’s an incredible remodel of a farmhouse built in 1850, with a very modern kitchen and updated, modern floor plan. Everything is done to the nines.”
With three bedrooms, three full baths and a powder room, a wood-burning fireplace, gourmet kitchen, large front porch and a sunroom at the back, the house has a comfortable-but-elegant farmhouse feel, she said.
The Millers removed a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room. The original wood floor in the main bedroom was refinished, while other wood floors were replaced.
Miller replaced all of the windows and built new trim, wainscoting and transoms above some doors. The bare-bones basement was finished with a “man cave,” mud room and space for the laundry, mechanicals and storage.
The house’s triple-brick construction acts as a type of climate control, helping to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter, Ganassi said.
The Millers also finished the lower level of the barn to use as living quarters during the house renovations.
The space includes rooms currently used as an office and an art studio, along with a living area, three bedrooms, a commercial kitchen and a full bath. That bath and the one in the owner’s suite feature walk-in showers custom-designed and built by Kim Miller.
Adjacent is another finished area, with one side used as a woodworking shop and the other used as an indoor play area for the grandchildren. Beyond that is a large garage.
While living in the barn, the Millers hosted a nonplussed Harry Marker at dinner.
“He said, ‘I never thought I’d be eating in the calf barn,’” Miller said.
Farming options
While Kananga Farm isn’t large enough to support its owners with cattle farming alone, Miller said, there are many options for prospective buyers.
“If you farmed more intensively with vegetables or an orchard, or even chickens, things like that that have a higher profit margin, you could probably sustain an income,” he said.
Other uses could include raising and boarding horses and agritourism, such as short-term housing and event space rentals.
The Millers say they are willing to share their knowledge with their successors.
Aside from its commercial aspects, Kananga Farm is like a little patch of heaven on earth, Dianne Miller said. The abundant wildlife includes birds and a family of foxes.
“If you go to the top of the hill, you can see the mountains, and it’s really a breathtaking thing,” she said. “You understand the bigness and beauty of the earth when you’re up there.
“There’s that peace and just a great ambiance.”
For more information or to arrange a tour of the property, call Ganassi at 724-238-9099 or 412-551-7300, email annetteganassi@howardhanna.com or visit howardhanna.com.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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