When Jennifer Mulak moved to her 41-acre farmstead outside Woodstock, she found a bounty of medicinal greenery. There was native yarrow, wild oregano, nettle, and ubiquitous mugwort (an invasive she's grown to love). "There was plenty of witch hazel and plenty of silver birch and plenty of sugar maple," explains the herbalist and flower practitioner. "The only problem was we didn't have any juniper trees." Juniper is a sort of tree totem for Mulak, whose late father nicknamed her "Jennifer Juniper" after the Donovan song.
But it was more than her sentimental attachment to the name that inspired Mulak—the native tree represented many of the healing qualities she wanted to cultivate after 20 years of working in a cubicle on Wall Street. "Juniper has been around for 12,000 years," she explains. "Every culture—whether Native American, Tibetan, Indian, Egyptian, European, or Chinese—that's lived in proximity with juniper has used it as medicine, as well as a purifier and protector. Juniper is strong; it is hardy; it's a survivor."
Despite not finding any of the trees, she christened her new property "Juniper Grove" anyway, with a plan to plant saplings in the future. The name reminded her of her father and "was a such a fitting name for a healing space," she remembers. Along with her partner, Ariel Siso, Mulak's plan was to transform the mountainside property into a retreat—a space to share with anyone who was also in need of the healing envelopment of nature.
The two had their work cut out for them. The property, which they were drawn to for its proximity to the area's lively music scene as well as its wild abundance, came with a 3,000-square-foot farmhouse, a two-story garden cottage, and a giant, ancient hay barn—all in need of as much careful rehab and tending as Mulak's corporate burnout did. Sitting vacant for at least two years, the 1840 Colonial farmhouse needed a complete overhaul, the vegetable garden needed rebuilding, and the swimming pond up the hill was full of muck. The two closed on the property in early 2018 and immediately dove into the rehab—trusting that the retreat's details, the gardens, and even the seemingly whimsical name they'd settled on would all work itself out in time.
The Boiling Point
A native of Massachusetts, Mulak moved to New York City after college and quickly got caught up with full-time corporate work. "I loved it and couldn't imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else," she says. She was enjoying the challenge of her job in finance, but the intense nature of her career and lifestyle pushed her creative and holistic pursuits to the back burner. It wasn't until a friend was diagnosed with cancer that she began to question her path. "I had always been interested in skin care and a DIY type," she explains. "But that was when I realized that what I put into my skin was just as important as what I ate."Evenings and weekends, Mulak began taking online courses in the medicinal and healing properties of plants and then experimenting with making her own skincare potions. As she began to understand how to work with herbs and other botanicals, she eventually mastered the use of an alembic device. "The alembic is a copper still that's been used for thousands of years in the Middle East, Egypt, and Greece to distill perfumes, potions, and alcohol," explains Mulak, who ordered hers from a Portuguese company that's been making the devices since the 1800s. She began using it to make hydrosols—that is flower water—mixing them with homemade essential oils. "Together they're loaded with aromatics and all the healing properties of the plants," she says.
Around this time, Mulak met Siso, a musician who hails from Tel Aviv, and the two became an item. It was a road trip on the West Coast that inspired their lifestyle change. "We went through Oregon and Northern California and saw people living in nature," says Siso. "It occurred to us that we could actually do that too." They began taking trips to the Catskills, first just to visit, then to look for properties. "After living in New York City for almost 20 years, I suddenly and urgently wanted to be in nature and as far away from my cubicle as possible," says Mulak. Siso also fell in love with the lush green mountains, and appreciated the opportunity to have his own studio.
The two visited multiple properties before happening on their farmstead in the dead of winter. Even covered in snow, layered with dust, and infested with mice they could see the property's potential. They immediately put in an offer and soon it was their new home.
Elementally Inspired
The couple's first two years living on the property were devoted to restoring the buildings and grounds into a haven. "It took most of our time and energy to work on the home, as well as begin our responsibility stewarding the land," says Mulak. Before sitting empty, the neglected farmhouse was a rental for many years and hadn't been significantly renovated since a fire in the 1990s. The couple first tackled the property's exteriors, hiring local painter Shana Falana to paint the buildings, and then replaced the farmhouse roof. Siso also restored and rebuilt the farmhouse's original bluestone patio, including a giant exterior fireplace engraved with the initials of the home's first builder-owner, Lemul P. Winchell.The farmhouse interior was the next priority. The four second-floor bedrooms—separated by two Jack-and-Jill style bathrooms—were ideal for hosting retreats and only needed fresh paint. The rambling living room, large enough for a grand piano, several couches, and a large bluestone fireplace and corner pellet stove, was also in good shape.
The kitchen, dining room, and first-floor bathrooms, however, were in dire need of renewal. With the help of Shandaken-based contractor Paula Dutcher, the couple carefully gutted the spaces, salvaging what they could of the original structure. Initially they hoped to preserve the home's wide-plank floors but realized there was no insulation underneath. "We carefully pulled up all of the floorboards, uncovering the original foundation," recalls Mulak. "Underneath, the tree trunk beams still had bark on them." They added insulation and then relaid most of the original floorboards. Only the dining room floors had to be scrapped. Mulak and Dutcher then added wildlife-inspired wallpaper to the room and Siso added a half-wall of wainscoting to complement the farmhouse vernacular.
Mulak wanted to create a chef's kitchen where guests could gather. "It was important to keep the original cabinets but bring the appliances into modern times," Mulak says. The team carefully removed the farmhouse cabinetry—restoring both the wood surfaces and the original metal fixtures by removing layers of paint. Mulak then redesigned the kitchen's layout to create a convivial space. "The stove and oven layout were based on a design from my Brooklyn apartment," she explains. "We had many dinner parties there and I loved how I could be cooking with guests sitting nearby and I didn't have my back turned to them." A large central island, topped with a six-burner stove, also includes an extra convection oven, a second sink, and abundant counters.
After reinstalling the restored cabinets, they hired local woodworker Daniel Bishop to create one-of-a-kind counter tops. "We handpicked quarter-sawn oak from Rothe Lumber in Saugerties and then Daniel did his magic to finish it and create a real statement piece," says Mulak. They added live-edge maple shelving above. The kitchen's color scheme was inspired by layers of blue, yellow, and green moss Siso found while restoring the patio. The couple borrowed the mossy shade of blue for the cabinetry and painted the kitchen's Fire Boss wood-burning stove bright mossy yellow. "The wood elements warm up the space and the colors bring nature inside," explains Mulak.
Farmhouse Elixir
In her down time, Mulak was getting to know the 41-acre property and its thriving fields and forests. Along with the retreat space, she planned to start her own line of herbal remedies. As she began to experiment with what she could create from the native flora, she briefly debated whether "Juniper Grove" was an appropriate business name but ultimately kept it. The day she went live with the company website, Bishop stopped by. The couple told Bishop, who'd served as the property's caretaker for years, about the new name. "Great name!" He exclaimed. "Especially given all the juniper trees you have here." The couple had no idea what Bishop was talking about so he took them on a walk through the wooded landscape. At the property's edge, behind the pond, was a juniper grove, just as Mulak had envisioned. "I felt like I'd really come home," she says.
