Regenerate the land
Build soil, protect water, increase biodiversity, and make decisions with a long time horizon.
Regenerative farms for the next generation
Children should grow up close to the land.
We want to create farms where families live together, care for animals, grow food, do meaningful work, and contribute to the communities around them.
A working vision
Healthy soil. Well-cared-for animals. Homes filled with sunlight. Children who know how to make and grow things.
Our mission
Build places where land, work, and family strengthen one another.
America was shaped by people who understood the land and knew how to build, grow, repair, and care for what was entrusted to them. We believe young people still need that experience.
Family Farm Living will partner with farmers, landowners, and local communities to create regenerative working farms with family homes. The farm is not a backdrop. It is part of daily life and part of how children learn responsibility, patience, and contribution.
What we are building toward
A farm designed as a living system.
Every place will be different. These are the beliefs that will guide the work.
Care for animals
Raise animals with attention, good husbandry, room to move, and respect for their role on the farm.
Raise capable children
Give children real work, practical skills, close relationships, and the confidence that comes from contributing.
Strengthen community
Buy locally, share knowledge, create useful work, and become the kind of neighbor a community can rely on.
Build for generations
Use durable materials, human-scale European influences, courtyards, shade, and plenty of natural light.
Honor the farmer
Create transition options that respect a farmer's history, knowledge, and need for a workable next chapter.
Architecture and place
Built around sunlight, work, and belonging.
We are drawn to European farmsteads because the buildings feel connected to the land and to one another. Homes, barns, gardens, workshops, courtyards, and paths form a place instead of a collection of isolated structures.
We want architecture that ages well, welcomes daily life, and makes it easy for families to be outside together.
For farmers and landowners
The right transition should protect what you built.
If you are thinking about retirement, looking for the next steward of your land, or interested in a long-term partnership, we would like to listen first. The history of a farm matters. The knowledge of the people who worked it matters too.
Contact us
Tell us about your farm.
Share only what you are comfortable sharing. We will respond personally and begin with a conversation.
About our family
We are building the life we want our children to inherit.
We are Ben and Mary Pelo, and we are raising Payton and Piper. We want our children to know where food comes from, how to care for living things, how to work with their hands, and what it means to be useful to other people.
This starts as a family conviction, but the goal is larger than our family. We want to work with farmers and other families to build places that can last for generations.
Tell us about a farm or communityThere is a place for you here
Help build the next farm community.
For families
Follow the journey and find ways to participate.
Join the community, learn what family farm life could look like, and hear about future opportunities.
Explore family life → For the communityShare land, locations, and people we should know.
Recommend a farm, introduce a landowner, or follow confirmed projects and opportunities.
Visit the community hub →Books and films
Ideas shaping the work.
This is a starting shelf. We will keep adding practical work on soil, farming, architecture, family, and community.
Request a callback
Let’s talk about the land, people, and possibilities.
Share your number and a convenient time to talk. Ben or Mary will call you personally. We are especially interested in farms of 100 or more acres and thoughtful transition opportunities.