Photography/Art Direction: Sailey Williams
Wardrobe: Inoisell Miranda
Grooming: Blue Michael for Blue Michael Cosmetics
Shoot Assistant: Sacha Azor
Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge are the founders of Beekman1802, one of the fastest-growing lifestyle brands in the United States, and authors of the upcoming book, The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook
Josh Kilmer-Purcell is an advertising executive and the New York Times best-selling author of I Am Not Myself These Days. Dr. Brent Ridge is a physician, and formerly a vice president at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Their decision to leave city life behind has been chronicled in Kilmer-Purcell’s national best seller, The Bucolic Plague, and on the hit Planet Green TV show, The Fabulous Beekman Boys. They call themselves accidental farmers. “We didn’t plan to buy the Beekman Farm in Sharon Springs, New York. We were on a weekend apple-picking trip when we got lost and stumbled on the place.“ They say they have always considered themselves city dwellers, but when they drove by the Beekman mansion built in 1802, they knew we had to have it.
By the next spring, it was theirs. Within a few months, they received a letter from a farmer named John who needed to find a new home for himself and his 88 goats. “It’s hard to say no to homeless goats”, so they took them in. To make use of all of the available goat milk, they created a company, Beekman 1802. They sell their goat-milk soap and cheese on the Beekman1802.com, as well as house wares from local craftspeople. Their website has since been nominated for a James Beard Award and Epicurious hailed them as “the next Martha Stewarts!”
The drive from Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the Beekman Mansion is taking us further and further from civilization. No cars, no pedestrians… already I’m feeling withdrawal from the overcrowded subways of New York City. But when we finally reach the Beekman, we are quickly put at ease by the openness of Brent and Josh and they let us wander the grounds of their beautiful home. We walk the acres of land, passing around a gorgeous lake, walking into a crypt and of course the big red barn. Soon I am quite at home, playing with the goats that I quickly learn are very social animals.
My joy and ease continue into the mansion itself. Brent and Josh are excited when they see the avant-garde fashions we’ve brought to the farm and I can already tell it’s going to be an amazing shoot.
UPDATE:
Josh & Brent are one of 11 new teams racing around the world when the 21st season of the reality competition!
The Cooking Channel has taken over for the now-defunct Planet Green as the official new home for “The Fabulous Beekman Boys”.
Update:
Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his partner Brent Ridge beat out the dynamic Chippendales duo of Jaymes and James to be crowned the winners of The Amazing Race‘s 21st season.
Completing a 25,000-mile journey over three continents, nine countries and twenty cities, the Fabulous Beekman Boys took home the $1 million grand prize last night.
“Winning this race will bring us together for the next fifty years,” said Kilmer-Purcell.
ARTICLE FEATURED IN XEX MAGAZINE: SPECIAL EDITION ISSUE