Everytime I would visit Great Grandma, she would have a stash of Living magazines for me. I ended up with a collection of them that was quite large and cumbersome to move. Sometime between college and getting married, my collection was down-sized, only to have been built up again by a gift-subscription from my mother-in-law when we moved to Nebraska in 2005. I now get my magazines on my Kindle, saving space in our small living quarters and hopefully a few trees.
My love for beautiful things continued to grow, and eventually I settled with Interior Design as my college major with some influence from my mother and my, then, future husband. My first job out of college was with a nationally renowned design firm in St. Paul, Minnesota. Many of my projects were remodels of beautiful old homes, abundant in character.
My husband's first job out of college was with a brand new home building company in Minneapolis. His company specialized in homes that were reminiscent of early 20th century architecture and were built in the Cobblestone Lake development in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Cobblestone Lake was part of the neighborhood development trend of recalling a simpler time, taking cues from history, front porch neighborhoods and creating a small town feel.
(Photo Credit: Pulte Homes)
Once again, I was changed. I loved history, I loved homes, I loved perfection and Cobblestone Lake was a culmination of all of these things.
(Photo credit: Meadowcroft Homes, LLC)
With the foresight of the housing market crash, in 2005, my husband and I moved to his hometown in Central Nebraska and began our own home building company. We wanted to continue with our passion for new "old" homes, but needed to conform to the market, as well. Since then, I have had the opportunity to design some beautiful homes that have that century-old appeal.
(Photo Credit: Oseka Homes, LLC)
(Photo Credit: Oseka Homes, LLC)
(Photo Credit: Oseka Homes, LLC)
From the time we moved to Nebraska, we had our eyes open for the right piece of land. We knew we wanted a barn, some animals, some crops, etc. I wanted to create and sell beautiful things. I wanted to celebrate harvest and share it with others. I wanted to host parties and weddings. The problem was we were looking for something too big, and too far away for our business to function.
We waited years until we came upon Farmstead Road, and even then we didn't know what we had. I actually didn't want to keep it. I wanted to clean it up and sell it. Then one night, sometime after we signed the purchase agreement to sell our existing house, I woke up in a panic. Farmstead was ours... I mean, we were supposed to live there. I just knew it... I felt it. I spent the next few hours creating a layout of the land with the shop (a.k.a. barn), the house, the garden, the orchard, the playset, the firepit, etc. After a night of no sleep, I caught Justin in the morning while he was getting ready for work, and proposed my plan. He just looked at me and said, "You're probably right."
So what does our little picture of perfection mean? The vision hasn't changed much. I have the same ideas as when I was 12 reading my first Martha Stewart Living magazine. We hope to build our dream farmhouse.
(Image Credit: Me)
We've planted an orchard (and are planting 21 more trees, tonight, in fact) and we dream of inviting the public to come get baskets of fresh picked apples. We hope to do the same with other produce, vegetables, berries and eggs. We would like a roadside stand at the end of Farmstead Road, for our girls to sell those things.
We hope to create Farmstead Market, which sells, not only produce, but handmade art, décor, jewelry, furniture, clothing, linens, etc.
(Photo Credit: Kansas Barn Sale)
We would like to host parties and weddings, and other events.
(Photo Credit: Altmix Photography)
We hope to become more self-sufficient. We desire to get back to a simpler time. We want to find beauty in the little things and be grateful to God for answering prayers and blessing us with the desires of our heart.
We want a lot of things, I know. And slowly, but surely, we see these things take shape. What's most important is that we can use these things to share our story and glorify the One who's blessed us with them.
Happy Dreaming!
