Chino Valley Lavender Farm creates products for body, home, food.
Montagne Vue, French for Mountain View, is family owned and operated in Chino Valley by Janet and Brett Hall, and their son, Carter.
Janet said their family gets help from family and friends when it comes time to plant and harvest. They have 1,500 plants that encompass five varieties of lavender. The farm is at 5,000 feet in altitude and their property has great views of Granite Mountain, Mingus Mountain and the San Francisco Peaks.
One of their most popular products is the Silk Lavender Bar Soap.
“Real Tussah silk fibers are incorporated into the soap. It literally leaves your skin as soft as silk,” she said. “We also make Castille and Aleppo bar soap. Both soaps have recipes that date back hundreds of years. All soaps are made in small batch quantities to ensure high quality.”
She calls her husband, Brett, “the soap geek” as he’s happy to talk to anyone about what soap is best for their skin type.
In addition to soap, Montagne Vue also makes lip and foot balm. “Think giant lip balm for the bottom of your feet,” she said.
The linen and room sprays are popular with customers, as well. “You can spray almost anywhere to get the fresh, calming scent of lavender,” she said.
Montagne Vue also offers body butter, body oil, essential oil and seasonally available fresh lavender buds, lavender bundles and culinary lavender.
Janet says they decided to grow lavender because they wanted to make a living off the land but weren’t sure what exactly that vision looked like. Through extensive research, Brett found that lavender is special and the perfect crop for their endeavor.
“We have the ideal elevation, climate and soil in the Central Highlands of Arizona for growing lavender,” she explained. “Anyone from this area knows the wind blows frequently here. It is the wind that helps lavender grow strong, robust bloom stalks. Lavender is not desirable to wildlife, so we don’t worry about rabbits, javelina or pronghorn munching on the plants.”
Lavender is used in many ways because of its wonderful scent, in products like soaps, perfumes, candles, household cleaners and more. But also, “lavender has both antiseptic and anti-inflammatory qualities. Foodies also use lavender for teas, ice cream, shortbreads and meat rubs. One of our favorite treats here at the farm is to make lavender simple syrup to put on snow cones,” she said.
Montagne Vue Lavender Farm is only set up to grow their products. The Halls also have a 40-acre property in Seligman that will be a place where people can visit and walk the lavender fields as well as shop at a farm store, but for now, products are available on their website at
montagnevue.com.
Montagne Vue Lavender Farm products also are available in person at GG’s Unique Boutique in Prescott, The Pea Vine in Chino Valley and BB’s in Jerome.
Montagne Vue also sells massage oil to salons and therapists. The business also can custom-label products for events like weddings and baby showers.
Montagne Vue Farms was started in 2020 and Janet considers them still in startup mode. “We started with 600 plants and now have more than 1,500,” she said. “We’ve gone from four-inch-tall starter plants to one-foot-tall plants that, last year, budded twice.”
The Halls have developed quicker ways to plant and have learned that farming is a labor of love, as weather and weeds can be frustrating to deal with. However, lavender is a plant that doesn’t require a lot of water.
“Lavender is a hardy, drought-tolerant plant. Compared to other crops, lavender is much more sustainable,” said Janet. “It only needs to be watered once or twice a week during the hottest part of the season. One of the biggest mistakes is overwatering lavender, which will kill it. Lavender is also a perennial plant, so it does not need to be replanted each season.”
She says the business community has been supportive of their endeavor. The Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce has invited Brett to be part of their radio show twice. She says Gina Woodrich, owner of GG’s Unique Boutique in Prescott, is a great source for networking and connecting small business owners; and Lynne McKinney, with Beautiful Dish Gardens, has been wonderful about giving them leads to local events like craft shows that are a good fit for their products.
Montagne Vue Lavender Farm is located near Outerloop and Reed Roads. QCBN
By Stan Bindell, QCBN
Photo by Stan Bindell: Lavender Farm owners Brett and Janet Hall, along with their son, Carter, sell products in stores such as GG’s Boutique.
