Since we first featured Bovina Farm & Fermentory in Upstate New York (see Simple Good Things: 13 Ideas to Steal from a Shaker-Inspired Farm & Fermentory in the Catskills), we’ve returned to the many details that make it sing: hand-stamped and -stenciled walls, Shaker peg rails that wrap around rooms, and simple yellow tapers on the tables.
The farm was designed and built by Upstate natives Elizabeth Starks and Jacob Sackett to be both their own home and an old-fashioned gathering place, with farm dinners, homemade pies, and house brews. “In 2017, we decided that we would build a house in the woods and invite all of you in,” the couple writes on their site. “We hope you’ll take off your coat, join us around the table, and stay awhile.”
Today we’re taking a look at the true heart of the place: the couple’s kitchen in their own quarters. Join us.
Photography by Gentl + Hyers, courtesy of Bovina Farm & Fermentory, except where noted.
The black wall sconces are from High Street Market. “They’re called the Jefferson Double Arm Wall Sconce in Bronze,” Elizabeth adds. “I love that the height of the lamp can be adjusted, so I’m free to pile high stacks of plates, wine glasses, a painting, etc. beneath them.”
As for the faucet? “I love the two taps at the kitchen sink,” Elizabeth says. “I’ll always say yes to any way to add some romance to my everyday, and the hot and cold taps certainly bring a romantic nostalgia to dishwashing. Jake cannot say the same…Suffice to say that the second house we’re building for ourselves on the property will not have separate sink taps.”
“Jake and I built the root cellar a short walk into the woods from where the house sits,” Elizabeth says. “It was always on the wishlist for the homestead as a beautiful storage space for produce as well as beer bottles without taking up room for those items in a pantry or elsewhere in the kitchen. With the mountain terrain up here, it just felt like a given and fit so perfectly into the woody hillside.
“Walking out to the root cellar to grab produce or a jar of something for a farm dinner is another bit of whimsy and romance that adds some joy to my routine. And now the path from the root cellar through the woods leads to a paddock that’s home to our two new donkeys—definitely two of our greatest joys.”
For much more on Bovina Farm + Fermentory—including the public spaces to gather, eat, and drink—see Simple Good Things: 13 Ideas to Steal from a Shaker-Inspired Farm & Fermentory in the Catskills.
And for more places we love Upstate, consider:
- Piaule Catskill: A New ‘Landscape Hotel’ Inspired by Transcendentalism
- Homestedt: Two Catskills Cabins by a Nature-Minded Design Couple (Available to Rent)
- Inness: A Rustic, Design-Minded Retreat (with British Standard Kitchens) in Upstate New York
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