A century-old farm returns to West Michigan after a rare shutdown

The wait is over for fans of Robinette's Apple Haus. The Comstock Park staple welcomed back guests for the summer on Tuesday following an unexpected seasonal shutdown that began in January. It marked the first major closure for the farm in nearly 20 years.

The family said the shutdown allowed them to tackle demanding behind-the-scenes work, including farming, marketing, and a major transformation of their iconic red barn.

"I really miss working with customers. So I'm really excited to have people back," Allan Robinette, operations manager at the farm, told WOOD TV 8. "In fact, that's one thing that we're the most thankful for is our customers. So if we didn't have the public supporting us, then we'd have nothing."

What changed during the closure

The family farm on 4 Mile Road NE near the East Beltline has been a community fixture for more than 100 years. The Robinette family originally focused on growing peaches but diversified over the decades, adding apples and cherries to their crops.

The closure gave the family a chance to refresh spaces that had been in constant use. Improvements included new floor tile, new carpet, and a complete overhaul of the upstairs level of the barn.

The upstairs area, which previously sold women's clothing, has been converted into a service space called Barzilla's Barn. According to Allan Robinette, the new space offers ice cream, cider slush, hard cider by the glass, and a new sparkling nonalcoholic cider splash.

Local students helped build new tables

The new wood tables in the barn were milled from trees grown on the farm itself. The family reached out to Rockford High School for help with the heavy sanding work.

"There's a lot of sanding involved, and more than can be done with just a little disc sander. So we reached out to some friends at Rockford High School, and they helped us out with their students and their wood shop to help us get these ready for our opening day," Robinette said.

Weather hit the crops this spring

The reopening comes despite a challenging growing season. Allan Robinette told WOOD TV 8 that negative temperatures in February damaged some of the orchard's peaches and cherries.

Despite the less-than-ideal crop yield, the farm is still planning special events later this year, including cherry day and apple picking.

Hours and what to expect

Robinette's is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The bakery begins cranking out donuts at 8 a.m., and the winery opens at 10 a.m. The farm will switch to seven-day-a-week operations after Labor Day, according to FOX 17.

Richard Haslinger, a regular customer who moved to the area about a decade ago, showed up an hour early on opening day for his first donut of the season. He said he visits the farm almost daily.

"I hope they stay here another 100 years," Haslinger said.

The farm's winery operations, which operate alongside the orchard and bakery, were also part of the upstairs barn transformation during the closure, according to FOX 17.