Sweet Brook Farm is located in South Williamstown and is home to the Phelps family — Pete, Beth, Sarah, and Dan.  They built a new house and barn on a portion of the old Norris Phelps  farm (Pete’s dad) in 2005 – 2007.  Norris Phelps’ grandfather, Cassius Phelps, started Sweet Brook Farm long ago.  The Phelps’ dreamed of this homestead for 20 years before finally making their dream become a reality.

After the house and barn were constructed, the first alpacas took up residence in the barn in the fall of 2007.  Research on what type of livestock to raise led to the discovery of alpacas which were not used as meat animals but for their beautiful, soft fleece, docile nature, and manageable size and upkeep.

While the alpaca herd is growing and producing, the Phelps' needed a venue to introduce folks to their farm.  So they decided to grow vegetables and participate in the Williamstown Farmer’s Market in 2009.  In February, after they got the seeds started in the barn under grow lights, they got a bad case of spring fever and decided to tap a few maple trees and try their hands at making syrup.   What fun it was to have something to do during February and March and to enjoy the finished syrup that came from their own trees.  The following year, they installed a state-of-the-art commercial maple sugaring operation with 4,500 taps, the largest producer in Williamstown, MA.

Pete and Beth have left their daytime office jobs in 2008 to pursue their farming career full time.  This has allowed them to get back to the basics of life and become involved in the Williamstown community.  They are very proud of their new farm and the work they are doing to make it a beautiful place, to provide a healthy, local food source, and to educate the community.