Editor’s note: The story was updated to indicate where flowers for the flower shop will come from.
Kyle and Hollie Estes are taking the farm that has been in their family for generations and turning it into an Ozark destination, just minutes from Springfield.
The Estes’ family moved to Cassidy from Kentucky in 1872, when they bought farmland on both sides of Highway CC in northern Christian County. The town’s name and history have faded as Springfield, and its larger suburbs have expanded. Cassidy is designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a township, but with no independent governing body, many of its residents have Ozark and Nixa addresses.
Kyle and Hollie want people to know about Cassidy, and the plans they have for Cassidy Station at Estes Farms could put the town “back on the map.”
Numerous concepts combine to make Cassidy Station
Cassidy Station will house a number of different types of businesses, which all share a part of the Estes’ family history and give guests numerous opportunities to enjoy the farm.
The Mercantile will be the first to open its doors to the public. Although no official opening date has been set, Kyle expects its grand opening to take place in mid-December.
The next phase of Cassidy Station to open will be the boutique Airbnb, which is located above the mercantile. Kyle expects they will start accepting bookings sometime in December.
Amidst the continued restoration, which, like many other industries, has been hampered by supply chain issues, the rollout of the remaining components of Cassidy Station will follow the completion of the farmstead in the spring.
Plans include a flower shop and meat shop, which will utilize local flower growers and cattle raised at the farm, two event spaces, a large patio, an amphitheater, and space for a farmers’ market.
“We’re going to sell our own beef,” Kyle said. “Frozen, ground beef, even steaks and stuff that we raise here on the farm…You can see the cows on the field and you'll be buying that same beef at a store.”
While weddings and parties are going to take place in their rentable spaces, they want to host a variety of events.
“I want to have community events like food truck days, or spring markets and bring in vendors and all the things like that,” Kyle said.
A short history of Estes Farms
Pleasant and Sarah Estes, the great, great, great grandparents of Kyle, are the founders of the family farmstead. It has since passed through multiple generations of Estes’ to Kyle, who purchased the farm from his grandmother in April of this year.
Kyle grew up on the farm and purchased one of the family’s two farmsteads 10 years ago, on the other side of the road from what is now Cassidy Station. This year, he expanded his farmland and took on a massive restoration project to turn Cassidy Station into a collection of shops and event spaces.
“This farm is my heritage, all the work I have done my whole life has been to make sure this farm is still here,” Kyle said in a press release. “Growing up on the farm was a different way of life and I want to allow others to have the memories of growing up on the farm and feel like they are coming to grandma's house to share a meal, spend time with family, and feed the animals.
“Since Cassidy Station sits on Estes Farms, which is still a working farm and will continue to be, I want it to bridge the gap for kids that don't have these experiences growing up anymore. It has been my life's passion to make sure that others can share in these farm-life experiences.”
Age will do that to a building: ‘It was in really rough shape’
When Kyle and Hollie purchased Cassidy Station this year, it certainly wasn’t in its prime. The house had been rented out since 1994 and the barns were falling apart.
“It was just getting pretty rundown,” Kyle said.
Even though much of it needed a significant amount of work, Kyle wanted to preserve and repurpose some historical aspects. On the walls in the interior of the house, which was lined with some of the original exterior siding, hung an old painting of the formerly bustling railway that ran through Cassidy and sale bills that dated back to the 1880s. Scattered throughout the property are repurposed wooden beams and old farm equipment that they found a new use for.
He referenced the controversy in University Heights, where a developer demolished a well-known, dilapidated house on the corner of Sunshine Street and National Avenue in Springfield, and said that instead of tearing down history, they’re restoring it.
“We've pretty much repurposed as much as we could to incorporate into, whether it's the wood walls, or the displays we've built, or some of the workshop tables that have been here for decades,” Kyle said.
The Estes’ add another business to their portfolio
On top of maintaining the farm and overseeing the restoration projects, Kyle owns brokerage company Estes Stancer Commercial Group and real estate company Estes Capital and Development.
Kyle said he expects Cassidy Station, once it’s fully up and running, to have five or six full-time employees, in addition to Hollie and himself.
Cassidy Station is located at 5176 N. Fremont Road, Nixa. Further details on their opening dates and times can be found on their website, Facebook, and Instagram.
