Lifestyle Mirror

Some places definitely inspire house envy. The feeling came on strong the minute we pulled up to the Catskills weekend home frequented by The Food Life cofounder, Lauren Levinger, and boyfriend David Laven, a producer at Vice magazine. 

Laven’s family owns the farmhouse and the couple often visit when they want to get away from Manhattan. They invited Lifestyle Mirror photographer Bridget Fleming inside. Click through the photos and read our interview with Levinger to see what it’s like inside the ultimate love shack. —Laura Randaccio (@LauraRandaccio)

How often do you visit this farmhouse?
We love to come in the summer or during the year for weekend getaways. I come from San Francisco and like all people from the west coast, nature and open spaces are always the best weekend getaways to relax and refresh from the chaos of the city.

How would you describe the style of the farmhouse?
The farmhouse is a rustic and cozy place with all of the traditional spots and furniture pieces of a proper countryside house. From the big old fireplace and rocking chair to the wooden island in the open kitchen where we cook all together, to the big windows that make the house really bright and of course acres of land, hills, and grass surrounding us.

What are your favorite things to do there?
The farmhouse has a vegetable garden and we love to grow them with love and create delicious recipes for friends who come to stay for the weekend. We also have fun playing softball on the field, and we love to go to the nearby farms and all the local farmers’ markets around our area.

What is your latest recipe and what are you inspired by?
I travelled recently to India with David and we were caught by the astonishing country and by the amazing food, especially lentils. Right now I am experimenting on lentil-based recipes and I really got inspired by the India Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant.

What are your favorite parts of the house?
We have a large dining table that can host up to 15 people and we love to do nice and cozy seated dinners where we serve our best recipes. And we also have a grand piano set in the barn. We gather there after dinner with blankets and candles and play good music and relax with our friends. In the summer we also have an outdoor screen and we love to project movies and watch them on the hills with blankets.

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