Welcome to White Oak Farm!

It’s like stepping back in time when you come here and we feel so blessed to call it home! Our little place is called White Oak Farm. Welcome to the farm blog and our brand new website! This is where we’ll share our journey turning this land into a homestead. You can find us on YouTube and Facebook by the name Stanfords Modern Homestead!

Fresh-cut Hay and Wide Open Spaces

Martin and I both grew up in the country and have been wanting to get back to it for what seems like forever. We absolutely love nature, the outdoors and a family tradition of hunting wild game. Our decision to move back to the country evolved in stages. Life in the suburbs offered many conveniences as our kids were growing up. We have always loved the smell of old barns and fresh-cut hay, and craved wide open spaces

As much as we loved being just a short drive away from our family, we also wanted to sit outside and listen to the sounds of nature instead of the neighbors lawn mowers, dogs barking and traffic from nearby streets.

Looking for Freedom

We have been married since 1983 and have been blessed to have 3 grown kids and 6 grandkids to date! Martin is a retired US Navy veteran and an awesome carpenter. My background is in Real Estate, home design and decor. We are both avid Home Improvement DIYers and wildlife hunters.

Once we became empty nesters, we knew we had to get back to what we love, and a big part of that is being more self-reliant and being outdoors more.

Trading in our big house in a subdivision with a restrictive HOA in Virginia for 34 acres of land, we built a white modern farmhouse and a red barn in the middle of an old hay field! We are putting down some roots in a little rural town called Hollywood. Haha! Yeah, I know what you’re thinking…”That’s not a little rural town! That’s a big city in California where the movie stars are!” But, trust me…this is Southern MARYLAND! 

Small Town Charm

A little Mayberry kind of place, which was named for the abundance of American Holly trees that grow wild here mixed into old-growth hardwood forests, Hollywood is located just 75 minutes south of some major cities like Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington DC. The population here is only 8,064!

Tractors, Boats and Buggies

I love our small town and the neighboring rural, coastal communities, where you can still find old-fashioned parades down Main Street, rolling farm fields and big old barns dotting the landscape. We are surrounded by major coastal waterways like the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River and Patuxent River. Farmer’s Markets stocked with local fresh produce are everywhere.

There is also a thriving Amish community in the area, so seeing horses and buggies on the road and hitched up at the local store is commonplace! This is a quaint place where you’ll often also see old tractors go rolling down the road.

Get Inspired!

I hope this place will inspire you, whenever you visit us at Stanfords Modern Homestead! I hope you’ll see how it’s possible to create a space and a life that fills you up with comfort & joy no matter where you live. No matter what the size of your budget, resources, or know-how is right now, I hope you’ll find inspiration here to decorate your home, prepare a healthy dish, or cultivate a wholehearted life you love. I hope we’ll learn new things together!

Come back and visit again real soon here on the WHITE OAK FARMHOUSE BLOG and check out the VIDEO GALLERY page to see what we area up to on our SMH YouTube Channel!

Truly,

“When you LOVE what you have, you have everything you need.” Author Unknown