above: The house is from the 1830’s and the Zachs’s have kept the exterior unchanged — although there are talks of a bright colored front door! – Photograph: William Jess Laird
En route to Vermont, Kate and Jacob Zachs discovered Zadie’s Farm and took inspiration from around the globe, and now call their farm in Weston home.
Putting Down Roots
Tell us when you moved to Weston and how you found your property.
This property was never listed publicly; it was only posted on the previous owner’s Instagram account in May 2021. My sister, also a Weston resident, sent me the Instagram post of the farm to show us how beautiful her new town was. Jacob and I were on our way to Vermont on a Friday when we saw the post. We were actually looking to buy in Brooklyn, where we were residing, but he said why not look at it on the way home — it looked lovely.
Within a day, we got a broker and a viewing time on Sunday, late afternoon. When we drove down the dirt road in June, I couldn’t believe I was in Connecticut. A few minutes into the tour of the property, I cried. I grew up on an orchard in Connecticut, and as hokey as it sounds, we just knew this was where we wanted our future to be. Some people know the area they want to move to but look at a million houses before they commit. In our case, we had no idea where we wanted to live — but this house was one-and-done for us.
The property has changed hands several times, an icon in our area, who did you work with you make it yours?
As an avid fan of interiors, I had a vision for our design aesthetic. The previous owner had very little color, and if you know me and Jacob, we are a very colorful couple. We moved away from beige and leaned into the youthful but modern British aesthetic of designers such as Beata Heuman while staying true to the New England farmhouse traditions.
As new homeowners, we learned that it takes a few years to find your people, but now we have an incredible crew helping us to make it ours. Damiyr of The Sun Kid is our landscaper and started helping with maple syrup in the winter. Mary Buri, the founder of Mars Kitchen Gardens, is training us in vegetables and herbs. Christina Koether of Nomadica is a master gardener; she happens to live up the street, and I met her by going to her flower stand. She recently did an overhaul of the gardens and we plan to do a flower-cutting section next year. Both Mary and Christina have an incredible source of knowledge and are wonderful to work with.
What do you love about the property?
Oh gosh. Everything? Except the gophers that ate our garden last year and the hawks that took the chickens!
We love that we live on a dirt road and that Google Maps doesn’t direct anyone on it. And that we have neighbors, but that you can’t see another house from our property!
Being only a short walk to the Stonebridge Waterfowl Preserve is a privilege. We go there for daily walks with our dog. It’s one of the most beautiful places to walk and watch change each season.
Jacob is one of the most social people I have ever met, and his selling point was the party barn. When I asked him what he loves about the property he said, “That feeling of surprise every time I walk in the barn.”
Tap Away
From the trees in their backyard, the Zachs family makes their own highly coveted maple syrup.
How did it all start?
The first time we tapped, the trees took our breath away. Sap just starts flowing out, and to be able to turn that into something that our community loves is a priceless gift.
How did you begin making syrup?
We had a handshake agreement with the previous owners that they would spend the first year teaching us the ropes. Elan Wischkin is our maple syrup farmer, and we learned alongside him. If you ask him, the main way you learn is through curiosity and research. The maple syrup farming community is also extremely generous in sharing knowledge. Everyone is willing to help you, and it’s incredible to be a part of a group of kind people always willing to lend a hand to see someone else succeed.
Tell us about the process and the future with this.
When we bought the farm, the vision was to host community events to teach people how to make syrup — whether it be an after school program where kids have their own buckets or pancake parties to celebrate the end of the season. But we are just starting our family and those dreams have been put on hold — at least until next year!
Are you planning on selling it? How can we get our hands on it?
For now, we’ve been selling to friends and family and have gotten rave reviews. One friend makes us ship her five bottles at a time to Florida because all of her friends want it!
We just finished our branding and label design so that we can sell at local farmers markets and on a website. But if you just can’t wait to get your hands on it, DM us on Instagram @zadiesfarm and you can come to the farm and purchase directly.