Upstate House

Red Oak Farm:
Taylor and Courtney Tribble, Stuyvesant, New York

Any house that’s as historic as the one in which farmers Taylor and Courtney Tribble live in Stuyvesant, New York—it dates to the 1870s—would have a warm, lived-in feel. But there’s something about the Tribbles’ house that really makes it charming and inviting: the carefree way in which their children, Ava and Celandine, ages 3 and 9, play. Ava rides her new trike over the wood floor in furiously fast circles while Celandine plays the recorder and shows visitors a refrigerator gallery of her artwork. Baskets of dolls and toys, including a model farmhouse complete with a toy pig and an assortment of the same kinds of vegetables you’d find on the Tribbles’ farm, line the living room.

The Tribbles’ arrangement is a unique one. While they don’t own their house—it belongs to Amy Brown and Paul Colatrella, the owners of organic-certified Red Oak Farm—Taylor and Courtney have lived in it for nearly a decade. They’re the full-time farmers, cultivating and harvesting vegetables, herbs, berries, and apples.

Brown and Colatrella, who themselves lived in Manhattan until recently decamping to a Westchester suburb, bought the house and farm about 10 years ago and were matched with the Tribbles through Cornell University’s Farmer Landowner Match Program, which helps farm owners find caretakers and managers to oversee day-to-day operations. It’s a win-win for both couples and their families, who work side-by-side on weekends. When they’re on-site, Brown and Colatrella occupy a barn they gut-rehabbed, converting it into a comfortable modern retreat with soaring ceilings and loft nooks perfect for holing up and reading when farm duties are done.