The Big Yellow Farmhouse

Meet the Big Yellow Farm House

This is where we lived for one year in downstate NY, 1 hour outside NYC. This is a journal of the art that was inspired by, and that was, this special haven to our family. Originally this was written to help sell the house.

Around the Property Across the Seasons

Winter Sunset

This land WANTED us to be creative and serendipitous.

This is what Fall Looks Like Around the Property

The house as seen from the line of maples

The line of maples as seen from the house

The maples and pear tree

The pond, adjacent and clearly visible from the property

In Spring the Forsythia Hedges are the First Thing to Bloom

Looking toward the Barn from the Back Yard

Looking toward the House from inside the Forsythia Hedges

In the Barn and the Coops, space for animals, here are the Guinea Hens we kept

Some of our Guinea Hens still live at the nearby Waldorf Farm Kindergarden

View of the barn

A view of the new barn from the house

The pasture

There was a flower garden, a vegetable garden with more thornless blackberries than you can eat, an orchard with 7 types of fruit trees

Mature tappable maples

Nothing beats fresh maple water chilled by nature. The whole neighborhood would bring their cups by to dip a drink.

Collecting eggs and making fresh jam

Upclose delight of nature

Some Spring photos I took near the flower garden with the iPhone

The North property line was a Cemetery Park

The cemetary is a great place to take a paved walk or it connects to miles of forested trails without crossing a road. This property effectively (though unofficially) provides a forrest, a pond, and a river for the owner of the house to visit.

We always played on Saddle River (off property but immediately adjacent)

Saddle River is adjacent to the property

And the Pond (off property about 20 steps)

The Pond is also adjacent to the property (literally a short stone’s throw)

Our cat was happy here

And our dog was too

Here is an art video I shot on the property during a snow storm

Back yard had a custom 2 story child-sized “fairy house” that looks like a giant birdhouse, complete with hand crafted stairs, opening windows, and lockable door.

The original well is now decorative.

Several hundreds year old trees with old soul

Front Door

Stone steps

The stone wall was hand stacked by the master stone artist who lives next door (along with a former owner) and is in the curvy style of Andy Goldsworthy’s river-emulating stone walls

The stone walls include two seats inside the curves made of stone and are 100% hand stacked made of nothing but stone

Kitchen

The shelves are made from wood milled from trees harvested from the property

The insane old fashioned gas stove had a gas broiler/grill that would knock your eyebrows off.

The extra wide/deep farm style sink is great for projects.

Dog face loved the dining room

Living Room

Downstairs bedroom

Nursery

This room and the next one have brand new windows

Bed and bath

Since this photo was taken 1 year ago, these walls have been reconstructed and painted light blue and lavendar

My favorite room in the house was the finished attic which I used as a creative lab space. The basement had a root cellar and wood working area at ~1000 sq. ft.

The attic was great for silent concentrated work, filming, and watching movies. It’s a cave in the sky with its own mezzanine overlooking the property.

There was some pretty serious history to the house going back to the 1800’s. Henry Tallman, the first post master, was the original owner, and the house was once run as a carriage house and was the only house on the street.

The photo on the left comes with the house and actually depicts a man squirting some cow milk into a cat’s mouth. It was taken in front of the house.

Here are some plans from half a century ago.

There was a unique air conditioning alternative installed in the attic with two industrial fans that pull air throughout the house and out the roof.

There were secret passage ways upstairs and the house essentially felt like a Totoro labyrinth, with circular pathways and stairways that go up, back down, and then back up again.

Sometimes we caught wild bunnies in a basket in the middle of the night,

Sometimes a herd of animals was glimpsed crossing Saddle River

Note: Props to the former owners, the T’s, for doing most of the ingenious work to make this place so magical, and a shoutout to Henry Tallman.