Tea Lane Farm — the historic but languishing property off Middle Road in Chlimark — has a new tenant farmer.

Flower farmer Krishana Collins was awarded the Chilmark property last Friday in a 5 to 3 vote from the town’s board of selectmen and Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission advisory board. The joint boards had embarked on a long journey to find a tenant for the land who will use it for agricultural purposes and repair the timeworn buildings.

“I’m thrilled . . . my heart dropped a little bit when I found out,” Ms. Collins said, taking a break from seeding 12,000 zinnias earlier this week. She currently farms on Old County Road in West Tisbury and runs a successful retail and wholesale flower business.

Ms. Collins will enter into a 75-year lease with the town, and is required to make a one time payment of $20,0000. All of the improvements will be paid out-of-pocket. Ms. Collins will also receive $100,000 from community preservation committee to go toward renovating the house.

The awarding of the lease comes after more than two years of planning. Voters rejected three separate design and funding proposals and settled on a plan at a special town meeting in February. The Tea Lane Farm committee, established to review applications, received 13 applications and interviewed six semifinalists. The finalists were interviewed by the board of selectmen and land bank advisory board last Tuesday, with the winner announced last Friday.

Farmers Rusty Gordon and Sarah Crittenden, who proposed a vegetable farm, made it to the final round, but in the end the board decided Ms. Collins was a better fit.

The vote was taken with no discussion. Clarissa Allen, John Flender, Lisa Randall, Dick Smith and Mr. Rossi voted for Ms. Collins. Tim Carroll, Mr. Doty and Mr. Mayhew voted for Mr. Gordon and Ms. Crittenden. After the initial vote, Mr. Doty made a motion to have the boards unanimously endorse Ms. Collins.

The selectmen said they looked forward to having Ms. Collins in town.

“She seemed like she was determined, that’s what sold me,” selectman Bill Rossi said.

“Hopefully it’s a big success,” said selectman Warren Doty.

Selectman and chairman of the board Jonathan Mayhew said it was the right choice for the town.

“I think the bottom line is the town of Chilmark will be very proud of this,” he said.

Ms. Collins said she plans to plant 10,000 lilies, 12,000 zinnias, 6,000 sunflowers, 3,000 dahlias and 20 other varieties of flowers, as well as bok choy and salad greens on the grounds. Working with her to prepare the land will be Josh Scott, who owns Beetlebung Tree Care Service. Mr. Scott and Ms. Collins plan to put animals on the land as soon as possible, including having pigs root out the invasive bamboo in the middle of the front fields. They plan to have a cover crop for the coming growing season and will have flowers in bloom by next summer.

“I think this is just the most brilliant thing as far as a way to preserve agriculture . . . and I hope it will inspire both young, new and old farmers,” she said. “Hopefully something like Tea Lane Farm will be something they want to keep doing.”

“This is a huge opportunity and I’d like to see other people have it as well,” she added.

The 256-year-old farmhouse requires significant repairs, and Ms. Collins estimates it will take about nine months to get the house into a livable condition. Ms. Collins is working with historic renovation contractors and designers Carleton Sprague and Sergio Modigliani.

A key ceremony will be scheduled in the coming weeks.