Land, Lifestyle, and Legacy

No matter how much we describe and write about The Fields location, the land, the showroom, our Residency events, and this world we’ve built, you have to experience it in person to truly understand.

When there's nothing like what we’re doing and how we do it, where is the context? There isn't any, and we can guarantee it's not designed to feel like just another shopping occasion. It’s not intended to be transactional. It’s about community and where and how we all invest our time, lives, passions, and the goods we collect, produce, and display as a reflection of our values.

This year, The Fields continued to grow, along with products we’re developing that are inspired by the environment or directly derived from the land. We’ve been gathering a group of craft artisans in Virginia to collaborate on special projects that are exclusive to Division Road, reflecting the lifestyle curation of our country store with a unique flavor. Featuring Scandinavian-inspired, Scottsville hand-thrown tableware from Maja Sandvang and everyday carry items, field knives, and cutlery made by Join or Die in Richmond, we’ve been creatively energized by these handcrafted capsule collections.

The land shifts with each season, organically advancing our vision. Our tree plantings are well-established, native wildflowers continue to outpace invasives across the meadows, and pollinators like bees, wasps, and butterflies are plentiful. New thickets of growth keep emerging. Our Fields Honey harvest wrapped up weeks ago, and we’re now developing our signature Honey Wine with Silver Hand Meadery of Williamsburg. It will be unveiled next year after finalizing the formulation with cultivated extracts from The Fields, fermentation, and bourbon barrel aging.

It was a beautifully long spring with the most vibrant flower colors from the meadows yet. This was the first year we launched our spring-summer programming, focusing more on craft community-based events, with plans to host an arts and crafts-focused residency next year. To kick off these programs, we held our Batteaux, Boots, and Blenheim event, which was a blast. Roughly a dozen clients and their partners joined us for a guided tour of the James River in a historically crafted Batteau (wood plank boat). The Will’s (yes, two of them) guided us down the river, served delicious charcuterie boards, and serenaded us with the stream.

We concluded the day around the corner at Dave Matthews’ Blenheim Vineyards with a guided tasting led by Tracey Love, who plays a key role in all operations and the Monticello Wine Trail organization. As is often the case with our clients from D.C., North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, they commented on how rare it is to be in a place where people work together to create authentic, personalized experiences like the one we had that day. This kind of unity is a treasure that should be nurtured and not forgotten.

Last year, our Fall-Winter Residency was another outstanding success. Customers from across the country, including several international clients from as far as East Asia, joined us in September to celebrate hand-grade footwear and directional tailoring through made-to-order pieces, along with the rest of the Residency festivities. Daniel Gu was crafting incredible designs from the MotivMfg archives, made-to-measure, using a wide selection of the finest cloths. As a result, many inspiring one-of-a-kind pieces were created, and it’s always enlightening to see what our most passionate and loyal clients envision with these rare opportunities.

The White’s team was verifying fittings and sizes for their made-to-order pieces, and with over 30 rare sample leathers to choose from, along with stock and Division Road-sourced items, there was plenty of variety. Clients came up with some killer make-ups, from a staple style in a unique leather to multi-toned boots with texture and tone interplay, filling gaps in wardrobes with special rarities. We debuted unreleased collaborations with the two makers during the made-to-order process, and the showroom was lively. Everything was delivered on the original timeline, meeting the highest expectations, checked, and quality-controlled. Clients were thrilled with their creations, which commemorated the memorable occasion.

As we prepare for the upcoming Fall-Winter Residency, our brands are excited to engage with some of the most interested and passionate clients in the community. Serving the particular and catering to the discerning, the opportunity for maker and market is a two-way street. While Dehen 1920 has a good idea of what to expect, it will be the first visit to The Fields for Freenote, Nicks, and Fox Brothers. Production schedules are set, materials are collected, announcements are made, invitations are sent, and we’re all geared up to create some exceptional, one-of-a-kind gear for our loyal collectors. In addition to a cloth shop with limited-bolt fabrics for MTO projects, Fox Brothers has gone all out by developing several extremely special fabrics for the event, which will be exclusive to Division Road and can be used on a Dehen, Freenote, or DR Fox Blanket. The Division Road Residency denotes a rare opportunity for makers who do not offer made-to-order customizations to utilize limited-edition fabrics.

Nicks Handmade Boots, no stranger to MTO, will showcase exclusive leathers developed over the years, many of which have not been debuted or designed for distribution outside this event in a custom-order format. Paired with rarer soles, pattern adjustments, stitching variations, and the deep catalog of options, the configurations will be endless. We’re excited to have our upcoming first collab drop with Nicks available, along with samples of future make-ups for pre-order, some of Nicks’ unreleased specials, and a variety of yet-to-be-seen pieces and materials. Owner Shuyler Mowe and Product Manager Lucas Grasberger will be the main representatives, and with the owners of every other brand present, any client will be in capable hands.

Lastly, as mentioned earlier, we want to highlight our Virginia craft artisans for our small niche of those who appreciate fine and well-crafted items of all kinds. Brent Stubblefield of Join or Die Handmade Knives will be conducting forging demonstrations, along with made-to-order pieces featuring exotic woods to complement his handcrafted blades. We’ll also have a unique art exhibition from ceramicist Maja Sandvang, in addition to tasting our Fields honey wine test batch with Silver Hand Meadery and their signature creations. Blenheim Vineyards will showcase their best wines along with insights into their philosophy and farming practices, emphasizing their commitment to producing exceptional, responsibly made products derived from the land. Matt Greene, who has launched some of the area’s most notable restaurants, will prepare a multi-course cookout for those booked on the Epicurean Adventure, offering plenty of elevated local flavors to savor.

Chef Andrew Partridge, along with Eastwood Farm & Winery, will serve food and drinks for our Friday evening reception at The Fields, where clients and crafters will come together for a preview of the offerings and possibilities of the two days ahead, converse, and connect on the goods in all the ways that make our space of products and people unique.

The purpose of the Residency is to highlight the community of craft and clients, offering a truly unique retail location set in the countryside that reflects the lifestyle and nature of the products, customizing those goods with the heads of these manufacturing brands from all over the world, and sharing time and space together for a deeper connection. Good things are occurring at The Fields, so come and join us.