A $10.3 million project is underway to transform a historic cheese and butter plant in Paoli into Seven Acre Dairy Company. When completed in November, the project will include an eight-room boutique hotel, farm-to-table restaurant, café and a micro-dairy that produces butter and ice cream using locally sourced milk.
Tom Sarbacker, seen here in April, gives a tour of the dairy barn at his family farm north of Paoli, which milks just 65 Holsteins a day. Milk from the herd is used to make ice cream and butter at Seven Acre Dairy Company, which can be seen from the windows of the barn.
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This rendering of Seven Acre Dairy in Paoli shows what the finished project would look like. Work is also being done to restore an oak savanna that will include walking trails along the Sugar River.
The creamery in Paoli has sat along the Sugar River since 1888 and over the years has seen multiple additions. By the mid-1950s, this facility housed one of the largest dairy factories in the state, using milk from farmers in Dane, Iowa, Rock, Green and Lafayette counties.
A cardboard box with the Paoli label sits on the refrigerator at the home of Junior Eichelkraut, south of Paoli. Butter production in Paoli ended in 1980 but is scheduled to resume at a smaller scale later this year.
A farm sign from the era when Pabst Farms owned the dairy plant in Paoli.
Nic Mink, left, and Danika Laine move a highway construction sign that was found during the renovation of the 21,000-square-foot building that will become the Seven Acre Dairy Company in Paoli.
Duane Miller, center, worked as a butter maker at the dairy plant in Paoli from 1954 to 1980. Last week he met Anna Landmark, left, and Anna Thomas Bates in the former butter production room that cranked out 20,000 pounds of butter a day. Landmark and Thomas Bates, founders of Landmark Creamery in Paoli, are planning to make small batches of butter in the revamped dairy plant that will be known Seven Acre Dairy Company.
Anna Thomas Bates of Landmark Creamery in Paoli selects a wheel of Sweet Annie, a gouda-style cheese, from one of the company's cheese caves. Landmark will make butter in Seven Acre Dairy's micro-dairy plant, but has announced a $2 million expansion of its own to bring its cheese production in house to space behind the cheese shop. Landmark currently makes its cheese at Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain.
Tom Sarbacker walks past a barn quilt that features the name of the farm located just north of Paoli. Milk from the Sarbackers' Holsteins will be used to make ice cream at Seven Acre Dairy Company.
Photos: Seven Acre Dairy Company and Paoli
Seven Acre Dairy Company
The creamery in Paoli has sat along the Sugar River since 1888 and over the years has seen multiple additions. By the mid-1950s, this facility housed one of the largest dairy factories in the state, using milk from farmers in Dane, Iowa, Rock, Green and Lafayette counties.
Seven Acre Dairy Company
Nic Mink, left, and Danika Laine move a highway construction sign that was found during the renovation of the 21,000-square-foot building that will become the Seven Acre Dairy Company in Paoli.
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A construction worker chips away at an exterior wall while working to transforming the former Paoli Cheese Factory into Seven Acre Dairy Company in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Seven Acre Dairy Company
A $10.3 million project is underway to transform a historic cheese and butter plant in Paoli into Seven Acre Dairy Company. When completed in November, the project will include an eight-room boutique hotel, farm-to-table restaurant, café and a micro-dairy that produces butter and ice cream using locally sourced milk.
Seven Acre Dairy Company
Anna Thomas Bates of Landmark Creamery in Paoli selects a wheel of Sweet Annie, a gouda-style cheese, from one of the company's cheese caves. Landmark will make butter in Seven Acre Dairy's micro-dairy plant, but has announced a $2 million expansion of its own to bring its cheese production in house to space behind the cheese shop. Landmark currently makes its cheese at Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain.
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Nic Mink talks about the history of the Paoli Cheese Factory, and points out where vats for Swiss cheese making used to be located in the building in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
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The Paoli Cheese Factory building has served as home to a variety of business including as gallery space, shops and apartments. Despite the variety of uses the glass block windows and interior walls made with glazed ceramic bricks point to the building's dairy history in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
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Vicki Sarbacker, left, and her husband Tom share farm stories and talk about raising their children and grandchildren around the dairy industry in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
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A young cow feeds at Fischerdale Holstein, the family farm of Tom and Vicki Sarbacker in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Seven Acre Dairy Company
Tom Sarbacker walks past a barn quilt that features the name of the farm located just north of Paoli. Milk from the Sarbackers' Holsteins will be used to make ice cream at Seven Acre Dairy Company.
Seven Acre Dairy Company
Duane Miller, center, worked as a butter maker at the dairy plant in Paoli from 1954 to 1980. Last week he met Anna Landmark, left, and Anna Thomas Bates in the former butter production room that cranked out 20,000 pounds of butter a day. Landmark and Thomas Bates, founders of Landmark Creamery in Paoli, are planning to make small batches of butter in the revamped dairy plant that will be known Seven Acre Dairy Company.
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Tom Sarbacker carries a bucket of feed to his young cows at his farm, Fischerdale Holsteins, in Paoli, Wis., Monday, April 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
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Landmark Creamery sells a variety of cheeses and other locally made goods in Paoli, Wis., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Seven Acre Dairy Company
A cardboard box with the Paoli label sits on the refrigerator at the home of Junior Eichelkraut, south of Paoli. Butter production in Paoli ended in 1980 but is scheduled to resume at a smaller scale later this year.
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A selection of Landmark Creamery cheeses available at their store in Paoli, Wis., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Seven Acre Dairy Company
A farm sign from the era when Pabst Farms owned the dairy plant in Paoli.
Seven Acre Dairy Company
Seven Acre Dairy Company
This rendering of Seven Acre Dairy in Paoli shows what the finished project would look like. Work is also being done to restore an oak savanna that will include walking trails along the Sugar River.
