Quick Takes With: Elizabeth Starks

What’s your dream dinner party? Ours might be a table at Bovina Farm & Fermentory in the Catskills, at a long table in the Shaker-inspired dining room, candles burning down—or outside, under the moon, family style.

It’s all the work of Elizabeth Starks and Jacob Sackett—and so taken are we by what they’ve created that we’ve featured the place three times, from the dining room to the root cellar to the new overnight lodgings where guests can rest their heads after dinner).

“We’ve spent the last six years building a farm and homestead from scratch here, which has become home to a restaurant, guesthouse, and brewery, chickens, ducks, two donkeys, and a small flock of dairy sheep,” Elizabeth writes. “This year we’re planning on making some wine, expanding our produce garden about tenfold, maybe adding some pigs into the mix, and finally building a house that we’ll keep all to ourselves.”

Amidst it all, Elizabeth writes in today with her go-to playlist, four series/movies to watch for the interiors, and an under-the-radar gift shop. Read on:

Above: Dinner at Bovina. Photograph by Christian Harder (@christianharder) from Simple Good Things: 13 Ideas to Steal from a Shaker-Inspired Farm & Fermentory in the Catskills.

You’re invited to dinner. What’s your go-to gift?

In the summer and fall, fresh flowers from the garden. In the winter and spring, a bottle or jar of something we’ve fermented or pickled.

What’s on your bedside table?

An overly expensive hand cream and a sprig of dried lavender.

What podcast or playlist do you put on when you need inspiration?

Spotify says we’re the number two top listener in the world of Tal Farlow. Where is number one?! Let’s meet!

Above: Spring. Photograph by Christian Harder (@christianharder) from Simple Good Things: 13 Ideas to Steal from a Shaker-Inspired Farm & Fermentory in the Catskills.

What’s a film or TV show whose aesthetic has stuck with you?

Father Brown has some delicious interiors to pine over while your brain works out the mystery of the week. Also Gosford Park, You’ve Got Mail, Little Women (the usual suspects).

Which Instagram account do you go to for design inspiration?

Cheapoldhouses: You’ll want to add all the built-ins to your own house and buy every one of these listed houses too.

My favorite paint color for the bedroom is…

The guesthouse has varying shades of white, which I’m pretty loyal to. But I foresee some darker colors in our own home one day. Jake’s favorite color is green, and I love a deep reddish brown.

Your design pet peeve?

When homes all start looking the same! Trends won’t serve you well; things shouldn’t be classified as “in” or “out.” Design your home to bring you joy and I promise that it will bring joy to anyone who steps inside too.

Above: Breakfast in one of the guest houses. Photograph by Sarah Elliott, courtesy of Bovina Farm & Fermentory, from “An Air of Magic”: Scandi, Shaker, and Snug Lodgings in Bovina, New York.

My go-to kitchen utensil is…

A wooden spoon and a paring knife. The joke of the kitchen is that I never have the proper tool in my hand for the job. The same goes for the garden.

Three words that describe my design style:

Handmade, uncluttered, touch-of-whimsy.

What item from your closet do you have on repeat?

Anything wool. It can be worn for 9 out of 12 months of the year here. I’ve also come to feel more emotionally connected to wool, now that I raise my own sheep and process their wool. My husband bought me red wool underwear for Valentine’s Day last year which was a pretty much perfect gift.

Above: Stay a while. Photograph by Sarah Elliott, courtesy of Bovina Farm & Fermentory, from “An Air of Magic”: Scandi, Shaker, and Snug Lodgings in Bovina, New York.

Favorite design shop to visit (online or in person)?

The Hancock Shaker Village gift shop has a beautiful array of Shaker boxes and baskets and furniture—which would look great in any house, or at least inspire you to hunt for antique design lookalikes, or maybe even take up woodworking!

What is the last thing you purchased for your house?

Some backup dish brush heads. I don’t let anyone in the house use kitchen sponges, but they get mad at me when I let the dish brush heads get old and worn out. I’m trying to get ahead of the problem.

Above: Elizabeth at home. Photograph courtesy of Elizabeth Starks.

Something you’re coveting?

We’re about to begin timber-framing our own family home, and traditional timber-framing tools happen to be really beautiful. The dovetail saw from Lie-Nielsen! Their jack and jointer planes! The gorgeous little bronze spokeshave!

I don’t leave the house without…

I mostly leave the house without things and am thankful when whoever I’m with has grabbed a phone or wallet. But my car is stocked with chapstick and hand cream. These winters, I’m telling you!

Thanks so much, Elizabeth! Follow her work @bovinafermentory and @elizabethlstarks on Instagram and book a table or a stay at bovinafarmfermentory.com.