In 2000, Ken Holzberg and Tom Kopfensteiner bought a piece of land in the Hudson Valley. It was densely wooded, and there were no buildings on the property, but there was a tantalizing clue that suggested a lively past: a thicket of old apple trees. Though it was now overgrown, it had once thrived, and the pair were convinced it could thrive again. It would take two decades and countless hours of hard work, but eventually Ken and Tom cleared the property and transformed it into Stonewood Farm, a certified organic vegetable farm with a mission. And today, the structures they built on the property look as though they’ve always been here.
Ken studied the landscape throughout the region and understood that builders in centuries past took advantage of the land's natural features and used what was at hand—local stone and trees—to build farmhouses and outbuildings. He chose vernacular materials to anchor the buildings in their surroundings: wood clapboards and shiplap for siding, wood shingles and standing seam metal for roofing, and stone and brick for foundations. He came to The Hudson Company for antique wood, which gave the new structures a sense of quality and timelessness. We supplied beams, flooring, and antique lumber to help Ken and Tom realize their vision.
Today, Stonewood Farm seems as though it has existed for ages, and it’s a culinary and cultural hub in the local community. Their mission is to use this land to support the next generation of farmers. They even have an apprenticeship program for young food growers. They also started a food pantry in town five years ago, and recently launched a non-profit organization that hosts on-farm dinners to support their community outreach. From the ground up, Stonewood Farm was built to nurture the land on which it sits.
