🍦 100 Years Later, A Historic Jeffersonville Granary Is Still Supporting Local Farms

For years the old granary building on Route 15 in Jeffersonville sat vacant. Once the site of a livestock feed store and grain processing warehouse, and later a dairy equipment repair business, the historic property needed substantial clean-up and restoration after years of disuse. Now, thanks to a farmer’s vision and sweat equity, the once shuttered building has re-opened to a new chapter of its century-old legacy supporting local agriculture. 

Ben and Stacey Waterman, the owners of Waterman’s Orchard in Johnson, gave the former granary a new life, re-opening this summer as a multi-unit commercial space. A scoop shop featuring their own line of Old Tower Ice Cream is the centerpiece of the space, flanked by a commercial kitchen where Ben mixes ingredients sourced from local dairies, sugarmakers, and Waterman Orchard’s own blueberries. Ben estimates they are in the minority of shops in the state with a milk handlers license who are making ice cream “from scratch using locally sourced milk and other ingredients.”

Ben and Stacey planted their first blueberry bushes at their Johnson orchard in 2008. Over the next decade, the business grew steadily until hitting a plateau several years ago. With a limited land base, the Watermans knew there wasn’t much room to expand their wholesale fruit markets. “We kind of knew already that value-added products were the way to go.” The opportunity of a commercial processing space promised the potential to add items like ice cream and cold-pressed juices to their product line.

Over several years, and with support from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), Lamoille County Planning Commission, and the Lamoille Economic Development Corporation, Ben spearheaded the reconstruction and redevelopment of the old granary. CAE’s Business Advising team and Vermont Farm Fund provided support to phases of the project along the way. As a former brownfield site, the restoration of the property was, in itself, a huge undertaking, and interpreting licensing standards and troubleshooting equipment breakdowns presented steep learning curves. The expertise of local technicians and other small dairy processors has helped them navigate the challenges. 

One of the project's core themes is to fortify partnerships with other local businesses by creating new markets for their products and services. Next door, diners at the popular Burger Barn are drawn to the new dessert destination, where they can peruse the building’s other attractions including a vintage arcade and a yarn store. Folks in need of a few grocery staples will find a cooler in the scoop shop stocked with local dairy and eggs. Storefronts still available for rent promise new tenants to come.

For Ben, the arcade’s vintage jukebox brings a lot of joy to a day in the shop. For customers though, a couple scoops of Old Tower’s signature blueberry ice cream seems to be the real highlight. Stop by through the fall to grab a cone, shop other local products, and see the new space! 
 

🍁 2025 Fall Hours 
Wednesday - Friday: 4pm-8pm

Saturday-Sunday: 1pm-8pm

Find Old Tower Ice Cream on Facebook here.

Photos by Kelly Bogel Stokes.