THE BIG MOVE:

Mary and Brian both grew up with roots to California agriculture, but met and started their family in Menlo Park (in the SF Bay Area) where Mary grew up. Brian was an attorney at a big law firm and Mary had started her own businesses in the area, a tutoring center and early-learning program for children.

When they purchased Sharps Gulch ranch in 2013, they never intended for it to be life changing, but rather a solution to a business problem. At the time, they lived in Silicon Valley and had grown their entrepreneurial ventures together to include several small businesses, including restaurants.

Frustrated with the problem of consistently sourcing quality meats for their customers, they decided becoming “the source” themselves seemed the best solution. What started as weekend commutes to the ranch from the Bay Area quickly evolved into a major lifestyle change.

In 2014, they moved their family of six (four daughters, all with the first name Mary) to Siskiyou County in far Northern California and jumped in to becoming full-time ranchers.

Their ranch features two houses and the family lives between both. Situated just a few yards apart, the smaller cabin style home, affectionately called the Little House, is their primary residence as they continue to remodel the vintage farmhouse known as the Bunkhouse or the Big House. Built in 1868 the Big House continues to be a work-in-progress including the recently completed, Five Marys Test Kitchen. To see more of the renovation process, follow Mary and the #m5bunkhouse and #m5testkitchen on Instagram.