Who we are
We’re Shon and Nina.
The Essex Ranch began as a plan to build a home in the countryside… but it quickly became something deeper. What started as a construction project turned into a reorientation of how we wanted to live, gather, and pay attention.
After years of city life, we felt called toward land. Toward space. Toward a slower rhythm that allowed for intention instead of urgency. We didn’t leave one life behind so much as we listened closely to what the next chapter was asking of us.
This ranch is being built with patience and care. Not as a showpiece, but as a place meant to be lived in… weathered by family, laughter, animals, seasons, and time. We’re learning as we go. Sometimes confidently, sometimes imperfectly, always honestly.
Why We’re Here
We believe a home is more than walls and finishes. It’s a container for memory, ritual, work, rest, and connection. The land teaches us things the city never could… about stewardship, resilience, humility, and presence.
At The Essex Ranch, we’re learning to grow food, raise animals, restore what’s been neglected, and build with respect for what came before us. We’re discovering that progress doesn’t always look like forward motion… sometimes it looks like waiting, watching, and letting things take shape in their own time.
Family is at the center of everything here. This is a place meant to gather generations, hold stories, and offer space for both celebration and quiet.
About This Journal
This journal exists as a record of building… not just a home, but a way of living.
Here, we share reflections from the process of creating The Essex Ranch as it unfolds. Some posts arrive close together. Others take time. Not every season is loud. Not every chapter needs an update.
This is not a how-to guide or a highlight reel. It’s a place for real moments… the beautiful, the complicated, the unfinished. A space that honors meaning over momentum, and presence over performance.
Everything here is shared with intention, when it feels true and ready.
Welcome In
We’re grateful you’re here… whether you’re following along quietly or walking beside us season by season. This story is still unfolding, and we’re letting it be written the same way the ranch is being built…
Thoughtfully. Imperfectly. With heart.
