21 Jul 2012 Family makes home atop barn
by RaeLynn Callaway
When I read this month’s theme was agriculture, I thought about how I could incorporate the theme into our Home feature. Then it came to me — Robert and Tara Stainton.
Seven years ago when Robert and Tara bought 45 acres of land east of Vilonia, they had dreams of raising their horses and continuing in their love of the rodeo scene. They built a horse barn with intentions of putting a small apartment above it and living there until they could afford to build a “real” house.
“We are both so practical and functional,” Tara said. “Before we knew it our ‘little’ apartment became a two-bedroom home.”
Robert and Tara wanted to do everything themselves, and with the help of some friends, they did. They desired to achieve a charming look in the most cost-effective way using the most cost-effective materials.
“We wanted to keep it simple,” Tara said. “On all the trim we used 1-by-4s and sanded and stained them ourselves.”
Robert built all the cabinets, the kitchen island and several pieces of their furniture.
“We wanted to make as much of the furniture as we could,” Tara said. “Everything that we have, that we didn’t make, are hand-me-downs from our parents and grandparents or gifts given to us on special occasions. It is important for us to know where things came from, and we like to repurpose and reuse as much as we can.”
The Staintons have a very simple, open floor plan. It’s open in every sense of the word — the layout doesn’t include doors!
“I don’t know why Robert didn’t want doors,” Tara said. “That was one of his ‘things’ from the beginning.” Fortunately his dad talked him in to one door — on the bathroom. All the other openings in the house are draped with burlap panels.
Tara wanted to keep everything natural in keeping with the beautiful view of their acreage from the top of the barn. “Lots of natural light was very important so we incorporated many windows,” she said.
Tara chose colors for her home after being inspired by an old quilt she loved. “I can’t take credit for the beautiful colors. It was Robert’s mother, Brenda, who had the idea to use the quilt.”
Tara uses her own artwork, pictures of their son Milan, mounted ducks that Robert harvested and rustic, woodsy pieces to decorate their barn home.
Little did this environmentally conscious couple know their dream of a horse ranch and a hobby of gardening would turn into a successful, certified organic vegetable and flower business — Rattle’s Garden.
“Who knew the stables would be used less for housing animals and more for putting up vegetables? I didn’t know anything about gardening. Our first year here I planted 12 tomato plants and they all died!” Tara said. “With the help of some neighbors tilling the ground up for me, by the third year I was giving so much produce away someone suggested I start selling it.”
Tara started selling her produce at the Conway Farmer’s Market and now sells at three online farmer’s markets and at Hillcrest and Argenta. She is also an organic vendor for Ashley’s Restaurant in the Capital Hotel. To learn more about Tara and her vegetables, visit rattlesgarden.com.
“I was an art education major in school,” Tara said. “I knew I would be teaching, but I didn’t know it would be through an intern program with Hendrix and educating my customers about buying organic. It is a lot of hard work, but the hardest part is the learning curve.
“If a crop fails you have to wait until the next season to try again. By then, it’s easy to forget what you learned. Also, with a business, it’s important to have crops year round. Learning how to keep the crops growing in quantity and successional has been my biggest challenge.”
The Stainton’s home atop their barn and overlooking three acres of garden offers the perfect balance between utility and comfort while being efficient and charming. Their eclectic style lends itself to a casual, easy living space.
