My Houzz: A Dream of Country Living Comes True

Joe McKenna and Sarah Brennan dreamed of an old-time country life while they were living in Australia. Once the idea of moving back to the United States was in the works, the two of them began to make plans to find a country home. Though they initially moved to Washington, D.C., they spent their weekends searching and found the historic farm-style house they now own — and the farm-to-table lifestyle they’d been dreaming of Down Under.

At a Glance
Who lives here: Joe McKenna, Sarah Brennan and their dogs: 2 Norwich terriers and a West Highland white terrier
Location: Frederick, Maryland
Size: 4,500 square feet (418 square meters); 5 bedrooms, 4½ bathrooms
Home built: About 1790

Brennan grew up gardening, so she knew that with a lot of work and elbow grease, she could eventually turn the garden plot on the property into something that would produce edibles. But raising animals? That was new territory and something she couldn’t wait to jump into.

“I’ve always wanted to raise animals. Not necessarily chickens, but they seemed like an easy first step,” Brennan says.

She ordered baby chicks even before she was able to bring McKenna onboard. “They arrived to our D.C. row house peeping away in the box, and spent their first few weeks of life in my living room. Everyone thought I was nuts,” she says.



“Baby chicks are the best — for the first two weeks anyway. They are so small and soft little fluff balls,” Brennan says. “They grow quickly, though, and before you know it, you have awkward tweens on your hands with half-matured feathers sticking out at all angles.”

Today Brennan and McKenna have 18 chickens and get about seven eggs a day. Some breeds of chickens lay more eggs than others, and Brennan tends to like more exotic breeds that lay less frequently. Still, they have more eggs than the two of them can eat, which helps them stay very popular with their friends and neighbors.

Chickens (some from My Pet Chicken): Silkie Bantam, Polish, Sumatras, New Hampshire Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Brahmas


Though Brennan says the learning curve was huge, she’s learned a lot from the day the baby chicks showed up at their house. Gone are the days when she would drive all over the state seeking medical help if something went wrong with one of her chickens. “I have my own chicken first-aid kit now. I can splint a leg, deal with an egg-bound hen and administer medication,” Brennan says.


Brennan and McKenna have raised several of their chicks from eggs, sometimes stumbling into the process because they failed to remove an egg before it started to develop.

“You can tell [development] by candling the eggs,” Brennan says, referring to another skill she’s learned from this venture. “You basically take the egg into a very dark room with a flashlight, and you can see through it. It’s really cool, and is now my latest party trick.”


The couple have talked about adding to their knowledge of animal husbandry with other animals. The most likely candidates are goats or alpacas. Though Brennan says, “I would love to get some miniature Highland cattle, because they are just so darn cute, but that’s a huge leap from chickens!”


Despite their newfound infatuation with chickens, the couple’s first love is gardening, and the garden is home to a large variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.

When the couple bought their house, the garden plot was significantly smaller than it is today. One of the first projects they took on was expanding the garden.

“When we were excavating to build our garden, the soil was so rocky it took us three weeks to dig down a foot,” Brennan says. “We considered abandoning the project so many times, but now it is our favorite spot on the property.”


The idea of a farm-to-table lifestyle appealed to Brennan, though she says it isn’t something she thought that much about at meals.

“It has shocked me how addicting knowing where your food came from can be,” she says. “There’s also a certain pride in biting into a tomato and thinking, ‘I grew that! From seed!’”

McKenna and Brennan are building a vegetable stand for the end of their driveway so they have a way to pass on all the vegetables they grow that they can’t eat themselves. It’ll be an honor-system stand, since they both work full-time, but if it goes well they’ll investigate getting a booth at a local farmers market.

“I’m planning to enter some vegetables and maybe our honey in The Great Frederick Fair. That’s always a good test to see if your food is as good as you think it is,” Brennan says.


Just beyond the garden toward the back of the house, the property includes a small pond, which adds to the feel of a country retreat. The couple installed a pump in the pond themselves. A small waterfall at the end opposite the dock circulates the water.

Canoe: vintage (gift); Barbuda Captain Steamer chairs: Westminster Teak


A canoe is docked, ready for use, and chairs set up on the wood dock invite weekend houseguests to spend long afternoons relaxing.


The previous owners had an old smokehouse from a Pennsylvania farm moved to the property. Brennan would love to turn it into a guesthouse down the road, while McKenna has thoughts of turning it into an office.

“We’ll have to see who wins out on that one,” Brennan says.


The couple love outbuildings and want to add more to the property. They are currently remodeling a free-standing garage, adding a mother-in-law’s suite to it. They would also love to add a barn someday, especially if they continue their foray into raising animals.


In addition to building the chicken coop, excavating the garden and adding a pump to the pond, the two have also added dry-stacked stone walls and cleared several walking trails.

“The list goes on and on,” Brennan says. “Our friends might say we are obsessed with projects.”


McKenna and Brennan have been encouraged that so many of their friends are interested in hearing about their experiences and are impressed with the know-how the couple has acquired.

“We’ve learned so much along the way that we typically hold court at dinner parties talking about carrots or bats or chicken poop,” Brennan says with a laugh.



Not that everything always goes smoothly. “If we had a dime for every time we said, ‘I wish this tool also did this,’ we would have a lot more chickens!” Brennan says with a laugh. Still, that lack of resources has inspired the couple to start a business.“We decided that we should look into making or sourcing garden tools that go above and beyond the basic-use case,” Brennan says.

The couple launched McKenna Farms to address this and to have a place where they share their experiences and knowledge.

“It’s a ‘docu-retail’ site where we share all of the things we are learning, our project failures and successes, and recommend or sell the tools and products that we use and love,” Brennan says.


The home has several inviting places to sit and enjoy the view of the pond and surrounding woods.


The main patio, pictured here, is just off the living room and becomes an extension of that space when the doors are open.

Patio furniture: Lucketts, covered in fabric from Jo-Ann


The second patio is directly behind the house and has two tables for hosting outdoor dinners with friends and extended family.


This area offers the most direct route from the kitchen to the garden and chickens. The white shutter doors open to an indoor woodpile so that wood cut in the summer months is free from moisture when it’s needed in the winter.


BEFORE: This photo shows an overview of the tannery and the surrounding property before two additions were added on either side of the original structure.


AFTER: The Genessee Group built the additions on both sides of the main house, which sits on 11 acres.


Brennan and McKenna, seen here, enjoy the shade while some of their chickens root around underfoot.

Tour the main house: My Houzz: A Jane Austen-Inspired Home in a Historic Tannery

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