GARFIELD -- Tucked just off a busy highway on several acres just minutes from the bustling Northwest Arkansas cities of Rogers and Bentonville is a blueberry farm, lined by pine trees -- a haven, a sanctuary of peace and calm -- Rosete Family Farms, off U.S. 62 in Garfield.
The culmination of a dream of Kristin and Alex Rosete, the blueberry farm includes their family home, an event center and an Airbnb, which they share with their son, Alexander, 9, three dogs and a 19-year-old cat. They built everything themselves.
"We wanted to have land. We wanted to live in Bentonville, but couldn't afford the land," Kristin said. "We thought this would be a great location. It's very accessible; so we bought three acres in 2012 and planted 400 blueberry plants."
They planted the first 400 blueberry plants in 2012 and only lost a couple. The next year, they added 1,000 plants. The plants, of 21 varieties, provide a longer harvest season than farms with only two or three varieties.
At the time, the Rosetes were living on the White River in Eureka Springs a mile east of Beaver Dam commuting to Bentonville where she worked in design and he worked for a vendor.
While living in the River Valley, after having Alexander, Kristin said she was often alone and through that time, she "really started to figure out who I was. I started writing, painting, cooking."
The couple decided it would be "healthier for the family" to live closer to town. "We were always at the blueberry farm, so we bought four more acres."
"Three floods later on the White River, we said, 'Let's start over and decided to buy four acres here," she said. She wanted to build a space "where people could come, heal -- a giant sanctuary, to have physical, mental, emotional, spiritual healing so they could go out and spread it to others."
"I wanted to provide for all people from all over the world ... I wanted a very universal, peace, joy, love, harmony. That's what I prayed for, that God would use me and my farm as a vehicle," she said.
"While we're doing the house, let's do an event center and an Airbnb offering sensory activities, food, yoga, art," she said. They have hosted weddings, showers, corporate events and she wants to host holistic seminars.
From widely diverse backgrounds, Kristin and Alex both ended up in Oklahoma where they met their senior year of high school, dated throughout college and married in 2003. Her family was originally from upstate New York (Skaneateles), lived in Boston and Florida where she was born, then landed in Oklahoma. Alex, of Italian and Mexican descent, was from Mexico City, but ended up in Oklahoma attending high school, then college.
Alex studied international business and marketing. Kristin studied advertising, marketing and Spanish. Together, they make a great team and have learned to merge their talents to build and run the family farm.
In a family of factual, medical, practical people, Kristin was the free spirit, the dreamer.
"I have had people tell me I don't live in reality. That I'm a just a dreamer," she said. "I've always believed you create your own reality. It's a beautiful land. It's like living in your own little world.
"People say perception is reality. My reality is pretty nice," she said.
"Alex loves to work around here. He's multi-talented. We love to do projects together," she said.
The home -- a modern farmhouse design -- has three bedrooms, three and a half baths and is an open design. Windows bring the outside in.
"Whenever we designed the house," Kristin said. "I wanted cross ventilation so, most of the time, I open all the windows and the breeze just comes through the house. I love fresh air. I don't really watch television. I love the sound of the frogs and the crickets."
For several years, the two, who moved to Northwest Arkansas 14 years ago, worked at various jobs. He was initially a senior buyer for produce for Walmart. She worked in a design business, Christine's Interiors in Bentonville. They had owned a furniture company in Oklahoma, she said, and there she learned to design. When we came to Arkansas, I quit my job and opened a design business.
"Since you're going to do the corporate thing, I'm going to do whatever I want," she recalled telling Alex.
Her various experiences combined to hone her vision.
"After design for five years, I love the creativity of it. After I would finish a giant remodel, I'd recognized that I'd be happy for 20 minutes, then, I'd look in the mirror and think that I was not doing what God designed me to do," she said. That prompted her to get certified in Dale Carnegie which she did it for 10 years and trained vendors.
"I saw a lot of people were disconnected, stressed out, miserable," she said. "Their life was based on materialism.
"Well, I want to find my purpose; I want to find my passion. I ended up doing a ton of personal development. I saw such a huge need.
"That's why I asked God for a huge healing sanctuary. I did a lot of life coaching and thought this was the perfect place for people to come, grow, expand their minds. I've always been that kind of person who always loved everybody. My parents raised me to love a person as an individual -- all religions, all races, all preferences.
"I wanted a place for people to come, to heal, to grow, to figure out who is their best self," she said.
The event center will hold 85 people. The Airbnb will sleep 10 people.
"People are just happy to be here. A lot of people come to the farm and they have plans, but they just sit here. They feel the peace. They watch the fireflies, the sunset. They'll have wine and cook dinner and just read.
"It makes my heart so happy. We're booked constantly."
"I love beautiful environments. I love beauty," she said.
"We built this ourselves," she said of the buildings. Together, they spent evenings and weekends working on the house. "It was the only way we could have afforded it. We make a very good team."
The first item visible walking in the front door is a huge dining room table made from a single slab of walnut.
"It's my favorite piece in the whole house," she said. "I wanted the whole house to be indoor /outdoor. I wanted it to be light and airy. I wanted a place for good, deep conversations. I wanted a giant fireplace where I could sit with a glass of wine and have soulful conversations. I wanted a comfy home. I don't feel like I live in a museum. I like natural elements -- lots of art and antiques."
"My biggest belief is probably to be very accepting and loving of everyone. I'm not the type of person where I think you should think or believe just like I do because I think that makes the world fascinating, beautiful and interesting... so I'm always very open to all types of people."
"The only thing I don't tolerate is hate. I don't like hate, polarization," she said. "We all have a different journey."
"I think God is love. Everybody is important. We should just accept and love and appreciate each other as we are," she said.
"You create your reality. I've been through some very tough things but you have a choice, you can either use it as fuel to learn, grow, propel yourself forward and inspire others or you can ... let it ruin your life. I'm going onward and upward."
Culminating the many life experiences, Kristin says: "I want to be a positive example. As long as you do your work, be the best version of yourself, hopefully, you'll plant a seed for someone on their journey."
"I always had a funny feeling inside of me my whole life because I was trying to please everybody and I was trying to get people to love me and make them happy.
"I finally just decided I'm just going to be me and that's OK. For a while, I lost a lot of relationships, but now that I finally became myself, I've totally changed.
"I'm a work in process. I will never get bored. I remember one night during tough times, I decided I will dedicate myself to my strongest drive to fulfill my mission and purpose while I'm here. I want to make the world a better place."
"Alex and I are super customer service oriented; we do fires, wine. We have a hot tub. We're huge into making people feel loved, valued. That's huge to me. To be an example of love, appreciation and value. It really inspires a lot of people."
Annette Beard may be reached by email at [email protected].