Restructuring the means of Century Farms In North Carolina:: a mutualistic opportunity for landscape architects & farmers

Over the past century the rural landscape has had an aging ownership and across the United States, and particularly in North Carolina, small family farms are ceasing to exist. More recently, however, various reformatory movements are garnering a new social conscience and youthful involvement for the agricultural community. This paper credits agritourism as a major contributor to this reform and specifically examines how the landscape architecture profession can establish itself as a valuable resource when rebranding a farms business model via agritourism. Research methods include secondary description that highlight landscape architecture and agriculture nexuses, a review of successful precedent studies that have made agritourism transitions, and a design application that graphically depicts the restructuring of a N.C. Century Farms business model to that of an agritourism niche. This thesis should serve as a prototype for landscape architects who are working with century farms or for small family farmers who are transitioning to a business model that includes agritourism.