a village in Vermont victim of its success on social networks

The village of Pomfret, in the northeast of the United States, is organizing itself to discipline and control the influx of tourists and other influencers.

Pomfret, 900 inhabitants at the last census, its green fields, its trees with leaves soon to be all shades of red and orange, its paths lined with wooden fences between the houses, its farms and its barns typical of rural America. .. The perfect bucolic landscape for lovers of posts on social networks.

For several years, one place has particularly attracted the curious in the town: the Sleepy Hollow Farmon Cloudland Road, a charming late 17th century farmhouse below a curving path, with red walls and white windows, a wooden shed blackened with age on the other side of the path, green lawns everywhere around on the hills and splendid maples with golden leaves. The whole thing is so beautiful and harmonious that the place has quite simply become the most photographed in the State.

But residents and local authorities have finally grown tired: the inhabitants of Pomfret all say they are fed up with the cars parked everywhere along this path, the streets overloaded with tourists as soon as the leaves start to turn yellow, the hordes of photographers who climb over fences for a photo, change in portable cabins before posing and leave their waste on site.

For two years, the municipality has taken measures: the path was first made one-way in 2022. Last year it was prohibited to non-residents from the beginning of autumn until October 15. This year, the municipal council decided in the same way to close all accesses leading to the farm. The sheriff highlights, in particular, the need to be able to send an emergency vehicle through in the event of an emergency.

In short, welcome to Pomfret, but not to the famous farm star of social networks!