
Loading summary
Lisa
We made the decision many years ago to be very involved in our children's education. Parents imagine a school day built around your child's needs and interest. It's possible with K12 powered schools. You don't need to wait until next year. You can make the switch to K12 at any time and set your kid up for success. K12 powered schools are accredited, tuition free online public schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. They've been a leader in education for over 25 years with their engaging curriculum that supports innovation individual learning styles. But this isn't like typical homeschooling. K12 has state certified teachers specially trained in teaching online who use hands on innovative technology to make learning interactive. And what's so great about K12 is the flexibility schools. Anywhere there's Internet access, whether that's from the comfort of home or on the go. To keep up with your family's busy schedule. See why more than 3 million families have chosen K12 to empower their students. Go to k12.com farmhousetoday to learn more than that's the letter K the number 12.com farmhouse k12.com farmhouse a lot of.
Jason Cashell
Times parents just don't realize what their kids are really capable of. And you know, we can speak firsthand of this and so we kind of always put them in situations that were beyond them. Not unsafe obviously, but if you never stretch them, then they'll very rarely amaze you.
Lisa
My name is Lisa, mother of nine and creator of the blog and YouTube channel Farmhouse on Boone. On this podcast I like to talk about simplifying your life so you can live out your priorities. I help you learn how to cook from scratch and decorate on a budget through this podcast and my courses Simple Sourdough and the Simple Sewing Series. I also help people reach their goals from home through my business courses and YouTube Success Academy. I will leave links to these resources in the show notes and description box below. Now let's get into the show.
Podcast Host
Welcome back to the Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast. Today is my first interview back after having baby Miriam. So that's a fun new thing to navigate podcast episodes and little babies, but we're making it work. I'm going to be interviewing Jason and Casey from Mayhurst Estate. We're going to talk about raising capable, competent kids, teaching them skills, and then also hear a little bit about their renovation journey with Mayhurst, the beautiful estate they purchased back in 2020. I think you're going to find this interview interesting and encouraging.
Luke
Jason and Casey, welcome on I'm super Excited to have you. We've been following each other, I believe, for quite a while. You know, there's lots of things that pop up on the Internet, and every time you guys pop up, I'm like, oh, that place is so beautiful. So let's start with some introductions. Tell us about your Mayhurst estate and, you know, just like a general overview of your family, and then we can talk about your. Your artisan kids hub and all of that good stuff. We have a lot to unpack.
Casey Cashell
All right, sounds great. Thanks for having us on. We've loved being able to follow you guys as well. You're always. You've inspired me for years and years before we ever even connected on Instagram. Well, so a little bit about Mayhurst. We bought it five years ago, three weeks before COVID It is an 1859 Victorian estate built by James Madison's family. And we. It's really an answer to 10 years of praying and dream for us. We had wanted a old estate that we could turn into a hospitality hub and make our whole family everything at our business, our ministries, our homeschool hub, our homesteading, all the things mushed into one special place.
Luke
Yeah. That's awesome. So now, how large is the estate? And then I know that you have guests and you do retreats. A friend of mine that I connected with on the Internet and actually in real life many times, Sarah, from. She holds Dearly, I know, just had an event there, and I love seeing all her pictures from it.
Jason Cashell
Yeah. Yeah. So the. The main house is just under 10,000 square feet. And then we have a couple cottages. We have a summer kitchen, and then it sits on 37 acres. And one of the things that makes Mayhurst so unique is that a lot of these old estates, they don't have the original buildings. And Mayhurst has all of its original buildings. So it has the original smokehouse and the original barn, the original one room schoolhouse, which the family that built it had eight kids, so they had their own schoolhouse and everything. And then it also has its original summer kitchen. So it's all intact. Well, it is now, but it was.
Casey Cashell
Falling down when we got here. Yeah.
Luke
You guys had to do a couple of things, maybe. I can't believe you picked that up when you did just right before COVID Like, that's just.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Luke
That's really great timing for you all.
Jason Cashell
Wonderful.
Luke
Yeah.
Lisa
You know what makes a better gift than flowers or another sweater? Memories. You can preload a skylight frame with tons of your favorite photos. So when the recipient opens it up, the frame is already full of special moments. It's personal, it's meaningful, and it's so easy to use that even the least tech savvy person in your family will love it. Case in point, two years ago we got this actually for Luke's grandma who is currently 91 and it's been a gift that she has loved. Skylight Frame is a digital picture frame. You can send photos to and they appear in seconds. It's the perfect gift for loved ones.
Luke
We all put the Skylight app on.
Lisa
Our phone because several family members live out of town and we could all upload those special moments to the frame.
Luke
Instead of having to text.
Lisa
I mean, Luke SC doesn't even have a smartphone, so it was a perfect way to not leave her out. The Skylight Frames quick one minute setup is easy for all ages or tech skill levels to use. You don't need an app or subscription option. If you aren't happy with your frame, you can return it within four months for a full refund, no questions asked. Plus, if your device experiences a covered issue within the first three years, Skylight will replace it free of charge. Find out why the Today Show, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, and Tom's Guide all recommend the Skylight Frame. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch frame by going to myskylight.com farmhouse go to myskylight.com farmHouse for $20 off your 10 inch frame. That's M-Y-S-K-Y-L-I G-H-T.com farmhouse if you run a small business, you know there's nothing small about it. As a business owner, I get it. When I first started my business 10 years ago, it was a huge learning curve. There were lots of late nights trying to figure everything out. Every day there's a new decision to make and even the smallest decisions can feel massive. The thing that helped me the most when all these decisions began to feel daunting was knowing that I had the right platform. If you are in E commerce, Shopify is that right platform. Shopify's point of Sale system is a unified command center for your retail business. It brings together in store and online operations across up to 1,000 locations. Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient. Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick up in store. All made simpler so customers can shop how they want and staff have the tools to close the sale every time. And let's face it, acquiring new customers is expensive. With Shopify POS you can keep shoppers Coming back with personalized experiences and first party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge. In fact, it's proven based on a report from EY businesses on Shopify POS see real results like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average relative to the market set surveyed. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com farmhouse. Go to shopify.com farmhouse shopify.com farmhouse so.
Luke
I know you get your kids very involved and that's what inspired your artisan kids hub. Because teaching kids skills and how to be creative has been something that you guys have become very passionate about. So how did your kids help through all of this? I assume you had to do all the renovations on this place.
Jason Cashell
Yeah, that's. You know, it's a neat story for us because I think, you know, I think sometimes people could see a family or they could see a business and they just assumed that there was a plan. There was a big, wonderful plan. We knew exactly what we were doing. Everything went as planned. And obviously anybody who has kids realize that nothing or very few things go as planned. So we didn't have this like perfect plan laid out. We just.
Luke
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
When, when we first had kids, we just wanted to do life different than what we had seen and kind of what we had grown up in. Neither one of us were homeschooled. Neither one of us grew up on a homestead. We barely had animals. I think Casey had a fish.
Casey Cashell
I had animals.
Jason Cashell
Did you have animals?
Casey Cashell
Yeah. Yeah. He never had anything.
Jason Cashell
Not anything, no. But, you know, the interesting thing is, is that we just really wanted to involve our kids from the get go. And you know, it's funny because it scares a lot of people when they see kids doing things that they're not used to seeing kids do. And, you know, again, it's not like we grew up with a blueprint. We were kind of pioneers from our own walks of life. We were trying to figure this thing out too. But we knew we wanted the kids involved in whatever we were doing and we knew we wanted them to be competent and capable and we wanted them to have the freedoms, you know, we didn't want to kind of hover them over them. And no, you can't have any sharp objects until you're 18. You know, that. That kind of thing. And so. Yeah, yeah, so. And, you know, it's. It's been, it's Been an interesting thing because you know, our parents are like, whoa, you know, how come you let them play with fire? How come you let them have an axe or should they have that? You know, so, so it is, you know, there's always challenges and there's always things to navigate. But again, right out of the gate, it was important for us for them to be involved in just a home life in general.
Luke
Yeah. Remind me your kids age range. Like how old is your oldest kid now? I mean you've been at this for five years.
Casey Cashell
There's Lincoln is. Yeah. So Lincoln is 16 now and Athens is eight. He's our littlest. So we have four kids.
Luke
Okay. So yeah. Your oldest is the same as ours. So.
Casey Cashell
Okay.
Luke
How competent they become between 11 and 16 as you've been working on this project.
Jason Cashell
Amazing. Well, and, and, and accelerates once they get about 10. If you've, if you've involved them from, I mean Lincoln when he was in diapers, he was involved, I mean just, he was involved and obviously, you know, there's a, there's a thing you got to watch and supervise. But as much as he could, he was involved, you know, even before he was 9, 10. I started getting him involved when he was 2.
Luke
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Cashell
I mean again, you know.
Luke
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Cashell
He wasn't using miter saws or nothing but you know, he was definitely involved.
Casey Cashell
Our kids have grown up in homes that we've constantly been renovating. So every house we've ever had we've completely gutted. So they've lived in renovations their entire life. It's normal for them to be in a construction zone and so it's abnormal. We've very rarely ever had a finished house.
Jason Cashell
Still waiting for.
Casey Cashell
Yeah, we're still waiting 20 years later. But yeah. So our kids are used to growing up in, in renovation zones. Always cultivating, always creating, working on the land, gardening. Just cultivating has been a fabric of their upbringing. It's been really important to us to let that be a fabric of their upbringing. So one thing that's that we often get asked by people is how do you get kids to be involved in these things or to be pass. And really if you invite them alongside you, they do and you, and you show them that they are contributors to your family, that it catches, they catch on and the earlier you do it, the better. When you involve a four year old in working at the house and on the land and doing projects, whatever their capability level is, they become just so much more. They're so happy, you know, to do so Many of those things, like to do the everyday types of things, and then as they just grow expecting, like, I'm supposed to contribute to our family. But if you never do that, and then once they're teens, you're like, okay, now that you're older, you should, should contribute. This is a shocker. And they're going, wait, why? I never had to before. This isn't part of who I am in this family. You guys do the work and I show up and consume. But if they grow up from little ages on, it's what they expect to be in the family. Their identity is a contributor.
Luke
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I find that with our family that we have so much going on and we have a lot of children, you. It very naturally happens because we're home very often and there's kids there and you're like, hey, let's you do this. You do this. It's not something that takes a ton of extra effort. I will say it's. It was a little bit easier when we had our homestead because right now we're living in town while we build. And so there's not as many cut and dry jobs. Like, I have to come up with some for them. Have you found that, what. When having a homestead, there's just so many more things that you can get them involved in that you have to think of things like, it's very obvious what to do next.
Casey Cashell
Yeah, right, right.
Jason Cashell
Yeah. There's definitely.
Casey Cashell
There's no shortage of anything. They never have the ability to be bored. Boredom does not exist here.
Luke
Yeah, absolutely. It doesn't here either. Just with the household chores, there's plenty to do. But with the boys, we had a lot of tasks that aren't tasks that we have currently because we're living just in town and there's, you know, they mow the lawn and that kind of stuff. But there's not as many of the homestead tasks. Of course, we have our, our build project, but that's, you know, how do you decide what kids can help without you worrying about, you know, okay, you have to be maybe less particular. You have to be on them at first. What kind of jobs do, you know, like, work well for kids to teach them skills?
Jason Cashell
Yeah, that's a very common question. And one of the big problems that I have seen is that parents in general always, or in a lot of cases, they always have a lower view of what their kids are capable of than they're actually capable of.
Luke
That's so true.
Jason Cashell
So a lot of times we'll have parents come visit Mayhurst with their kids, and they'll be from the city and they're really nervous about their kids. And two days in, one day in, their kids are amazing them. They're like, I had no idea you could do that. I mean, this happens pretty often. And again, it's, you know, that's a kid who grew up in New York City who, you know, doesn't have a yard. And right after one or two days, he's doing stuff. And I remember this one kid in particular, he met me the next morning at 7am and asked me if he could help me muck out the stalls. Never. Never mucked out. You know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, this is. This is right off the cusp.
Luke
And so, yeah, first. First timer.
Jason Cashell
Yeah. So parents, a lot of times parents just don't. They don't realize what their kids are really capable of. And, you know, we can speak firsthand of this. And so we kind of always put them in situations that were beyond them. Not unsafe, obviously, you know, but like, there's. If you never stretch them, then they'll very rarely amaze you. And so it's important that you put them in situations and tasks, you know, I mean. But I mean, I think Lincoln was eight when he ran a skid steer, when he used. I think he was nine when he used a jackhammer. And again, these are things that, you know, would make a lot. Most parents kind of, you know, go crazy, but there is a level that you do have to pull back a bit. And again, there's a lot of safety, you know, and you got to gauge your child. Right. So not all our kids are the same. You know, my. My daughter and one of my sons, you know, they. They weren't using power tools as early as Lincoln was. So you gotta gauge how they can handle things and their respect for it.
Casey Cashell
Yeah, and it just, yeah, it does definitely depend on the kid and the responsibility level and their skill. They're just, you know, every kid is so different. But I would say, you know, generally we've had the boys. I think good, tangible examples would be like the kids before they were 10 were doing power tools. Well, we started off with antique tools and, um, so Jason started off with our kids probably when they were, I don't know, 5 or 6ish, maybe, maybe littler with the antique tools, hand tools, no power. And then from then on, they would, like, they would build into drills, they would build into more power tools, and depending on how savvy they were, they got more Freedoms as they got better. And then, I mean, eventually they were branching into all the different trades. And so they've done. They were doing. By the time they were tennis, woodworking and electrical and plumbing, tiling. Lincoln tiled our entire summer kitchen. How cool. He's 16, and actually just this week, we had a friend ask him to build a fireplace for them. And he was over there for two days and literally did the whole, like, the whole concept, the whole demo, the whole build, everything gotta be so it.
Luke
Was proud of that.
Casey Cashell
Amazing.
Luke
You know, he did that.
Casey Cashell
She really trusted him. I was like, wow. And I mean, and he did an amazing job. And so, yeah, they're much more capable than we often can imagine. Yeah.
Luke
So let's just say someone lives not on a homestead, maybe in the city or in town. What kind of things would you start? Or how could you set something up like that? Because I agree with you, like woodworking. That's something that we've been able to have our kids do regardless of where we've lived. What are some other. Or if you're not renovating, because a lot of the stuff doesn't matter where you live. You were talking about plumbing and electrical. That's all. If you're renovating or building, what kind of projects would you recommend? Like, how to start that.
Casey Cashell
Well, so a good thing to know about us is we've always lived in the city. This is the first time in our entire marriage that we've lived in the country. So Mayhurst, five years in, is the first time we've ever been countryside. Yeah. So we have share that example of being in cities. We met in a coffee shop district of Louisville, Kentucky. We lived. I think most of the houses we ever had were either the size of a carpet, you know, or a half acre. The last house that we had was in the city, and it ended up we got two acres right in the heart of the city was like the last undeveloped street. And so those two acres were mammoth for us. And so it.
Lisa
Our.
Casey Cashell
Our whole marriage and our raising of our kids has been in that context.
Jason Cashell
Well, and we didn't grow up renovating. I didn't start renovating until we had our first kid and we bought our first house.
Luke
Really?
Jason Cashell
So, I mean, this was all new.
Luke
You had to figure it out.
Jason Cashell
Yeah, yeah, we've had to figure out a lot. And, you know, but, you know, so for example, a friend of mine that I had, he. He doesn't do any building, but he's a graphic designer, so he's taught his girls how to code and how to do graphic designing. So, yeah, you know, it's, it's competence is not isolated to the skill trades. It can be whatever you do. But I think that that's the big thing is I think as parents, sometimes you can burden yourself by thinking you got to teach them all these things. But I think the other aspect is teach them what you're already doing. You know, teach them part of your job, show and, you know, just involve them in what you do at work. You know, if, if you're a dad and you go off to work every day, what do you do? You know, help. Help them understand what you do and see what you do. Show them what you do. Take them to work if you can. You know, I did that many times when, when I worked outside the home, you know, so again, you, you can always make excuses for why you can't. But I think if you just spend your time looking at where you can, because again, jobs are different, people's situations are different, and ours had been very different in, you know, our whole life. So we just always look for ways that we can involve them in, in any and everything.
Luke
Yeah, that's such a good point. My business involves a lot of work on the computer and editing. And my oldest daughter has been working for me for many years because she's interested in computer things. And so taking her along on that, I think what you said is, is such a good point because I think so many kids don't really know much about what their parents even do. Like if their dad goes off to work, they don't really know, like anything about his job, and it's kind of left there. But that's something he obviously knows a ton about because he's going to do it every single day. So getting them involved in some way. That's a really good point. Just where you already are. You don't have to renovate a house.
Casey Cashell
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
Look, my daughter, she's not crazy about renovation and power tools. She's worked with me several times. But that's the other part of being a parent is you try and find out what, what does interest your kids. And, you know, so for my daughter, she's really into horses. She wants to have a horse business. So I said, well, how about I teach you how to use QuickBooks, right? And so I started her on that and she loves it. So now she, you know, she's like just so, so she, she's taking a business class now, you know, just really loving it. And so again, that's part of it too, is Finding out what. What do they like? Yeah.
Luke
So I have my oldest son. He's the idea guy. Like, he's always. He always has new ideas. He always is going to do them. Like, he, he had something he wanted to save up money for. And so over the summer, in the course of, like, two weeks, saved up $250 or $300 by going around and mowing lawns. Like, you can't stop the kid once he comes up with the idea. And sometimes it's that balance of, like, right now he's really into the idea of vending machines. And so he went up to the local hardware store and asked them if he could put a vending machine in there. And they're like, okay, come back with your business plan. And then he did. And then they said, we'll think about it. And so they might be saying no, but we always. He's 12, and we're always trying to decide, like, do we let you do this? Because, like, I don't think you're really thinking about all the details. And so this is going to be kind of on us when you tell them you're going to bring him a vending machine. But, yeah, how do you. His ideas are always, like, they're not always okay, like, helping us renovate something at home. It'd be nice if that was his interest because then we could monitor it, you know. But his public facing, like, he wants to start a YouTube channel. He's put things on YouTube, which we've. We've looked at what he's put on first. It's not like I didn't know that that happened, but I always am, like, I have to see things before they get uploaded to YouTube. He, you know, he's. He's wanting to go out, talk to people, do things. And, you know, sometimes it's like, I don't really think you can quite do that yet. And you guys actually had a reel maybe sort of about this, like giving kids confidence before. Maybe they're as competent. So speak to that.
Casey Cashell
How do you.
Luke
How do you decide what to let these little kids do when they think they can really do something that they're maybe not quite ready for?
Casey Cashell
Yeah, that's. That is a great question. We, all of our kids are similar in that they are all entrepreneurs. They're all driven and creative and constantly coming up with ideas. And yes, there is a total juggling and balancing act and saying not all ideas are the ones to pursue. But.
Luke
Right.
Casey Cashell
But yes.
Luke
But I hope you forget about this one. That's what I'm always thinking, like, if I don't say anything about this for a while, your attention span's kind of short right now, so you're likely going to just forget.
Casey Cashell
Yeah, yeah. So I would definitely say that is, we're in the same. Same boat. You want to speak into the raising competent kids.
Jason Cashell
Yeah, this. This is really important. And I saw this. So I have a degree in counseling, and so I spent a lot of time in the psychology world. And which. The psychology. Which our culture is very overly psychologized.
Luke
Oh, yeah.
Jason Cashell
Right now, you know, so there's so many labels on kids, you know, this, this kind of kid or this kind of kid. And then that label becomes their identity, and then it also slowly becomes their excuse, too. So it becomes their excuse of why they can't do this or why they can't do that.
Luke
Yes.
Jason Cashell
And so we've really nixed the labels and instead focused on the importance of developing competence. Because developing competence only comes about through the process. And so our culture is very product driven. It's very consumeristic. What's the product, what's on the shelf? And the process has really gone missing. But the process is really where character comes from. The process is really where the struggle, the failures, the, oh, I made a mistake here, I messed up here. That's really where that comes from. And what ends up happening is you shield the kid from that to so much that failure becomes this thing that you avoid at all cost. And the problem with that is failure should be a friend, not a foe. That's really how we should see it. And so we wanted our kids to experience that as much as possible, as early as possible, so that they could utilize it as a tool to help them grow. And so that was really important for us. And so, because when you look at building confidence based on competence, other than the other way around, where you just tell your kid he's awesome, so much so that it's not based on anything. And so instead, we wanted to base it on them actually doing things, actually achieving things, actually working through a process. Because the other thing too is when a kid is involved in the process of something, they see their weaknesses, which is humbling. And at the same time, they also appreciate other people. So whenever we go to, like, Mount Vernon or these other Biltmore, these other places, they will see a blacksmith because they've been struggling with it at home, and they'll see a blacksmith, and they'll start asking them questions and questions and questions. Or they'll see a guy, you know, making a violin or wherever we go. So they're very engaged in the process and understanding the failure of the process and then appreciating people who have wrestled through it, struggled through it, and are now very good at what they do. So I think that's. That's an important part of creating competence.
Luke
And confidence that makes so much sense. And as parents, we want to shield our kids. It's natural to not want them to experience any disappointment or failure. But when we think back to things in our own lives, like even just I have this baby in my lap, and the first. The first birth I did, my oldest daughter, it. I mean, it wasn't a failure, but it was difficult. And I realized, oh, I didn't prepare. I didn't prepare properly for this. And so that compelled me to do a lot of research and figure it out better for the next time around. And then, you know, there's been businesses I've tried that. I realize, oh, that's a lot of time spent for this amount of money. And, you know, that's the. That's what has taught us the most, is the failures that we've had along the way. So I think that that's really important advice. Even though it's difficult, parents don't like to, you know, and I'm thinking about things my kids have done. They've entered in different contests and various things, and they don't. They don't always win. And that's just part of it, right?
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Casey Cashell
You know, one of the things that I think we've talked about a lot and we hear from our guests is that they see like, a humble leadership in our children. And I think creating, really having a heartbeat to, to raise children who are humble leaders is a great desire to have as a parent. But it doesn't come naturally. It's going to come through. This means it's going to come through giving them opportunities to fail and to make mistakes. Because like Jason said, if you instill confidence and tell them they're amazing without any founding for why they're amazing just because they're. They're in existence, you're amazing, then they're going to get arrogance. And so you'll have, is you'll have a future adult who goes into the workforce and they are arrogant and they are entitled and they, you know, may accept, expect to be treated as if they were an expert, but yet they don't have the backing to. To even ground that. That belief. And so that's where I think our breakdown is in our workforce right now, with the with the new generation is like the, the trophy culture, the participation trophy culture bred this, this entitlement workforce. And so I think part of the way we can, we can have solutions for this is to say, okay, we're going to put them in circumstances that will breed humble leadership, it will breed competence, and that competence will give them confidence, not the other way around.
Luke
That makes a lot of sense. Okay, tell us about your artisan kids hub and what, what it is and why you all decided to create it.
Casey Cashell
Well, the artisan Kids hub was born because back in the day when we started our kids with all the artisan hand tools, parents just began asking us tons of questions of how do you get your kids to do these kind of things? They were seeing them, you know, chopping down wood and creating wooden spoons and bowls. And when they were about seven or eight, they were doing, you know, all of these different things, creations that were amazing. And so we started having tons of parents saying, I want my kids to learn these things, but I don't even know where to start. I don't even own tools. Like, where do we even begin? And so that mixed with, over the years, us renovating and having lots of couples, young couples, new parents, newlyweds who are going, I never learned how to use tools. I don't know how to work with my hands. And now I'm raising children and I want them to work with their hands. And we were going, okay. There is a, there's a systemic problem in our culture where people, no matter their, their degree, no matter what career they're in, they are wanting to learn hands on skills. A lot of times, a lot of people want to be capable, and a lot of times you have to be capable because the trades crisis has taken the trades out. And so even if you have money and a great career, you're very likely not going to get a worker because it's. The trades crisis is, is here and, and we're in the midst of it. And so we have. What we realized was this, through creating this online community, we were able to do multiple things. We were able to teach hands on skills to all generations. And so whether they're young or old, they can take these classes that our kids are teaching and they at the same time can grow in their confidence and their competence and it will be instilling character in the moons. And so our heartbeat is that people are mentored by history as we've been mentored by history. I think it's the solutions to the AI crisis that we have right now. Isn't necessarily trying to speed up and outdo to AI, it's actually going back to our roots, going back in heritage and saying, okay, what can we learn from those who have gone before us and how can we, our hearts and our minds be changed? And so the Artisan Kids Hub has been a community that we created online, but that also exists here in person at Mayhurst. And people are able to join us in this, this new way, new old way of stepping back and learning hands on stuff, skills and being mentored by history.
Luke
That's awesome. So we, I've noticed a shift, I think in the culture where people want to learn old fashioned skills, whether that's in the kitchen, tools, you know, trades, like you said. Why do you think so many millennials and gen zers are drawn to the hobbies, skills and rhythms of their grandparents? What do you think's causing this shift?
Casey Cashell
I think that we were the gap generation. We were the ones who grew up in, we're the ones who grew up with no technology. And then we saw technology come in and so we know what it is to have a childhood that's unplugged and we know how beautiful that is and how many amazing things occurred in that unplugged childhood. And then we saw technology come, we learned to live with it and adapt to it. And then now we're all raising children in it and you're going, wait, wait, wait. I don't want this screen obsessed childhood for my kids and I don't want it for myself. And you know what? Growing up this way, I, I consumed technology and I didn't, I, I went with our society and I didn't learn hands on skills. And now I'm an adult and I'm missing the things that my grandparents had. And so I do think that, that our generations are the ones that are going, we need to, we need to fix this problem. We don't want to keep it going and we don't want to be beholden to a broken system. We don't want to be Covid really shocked, all of us. It shocked me when we had barren grocery shelves. I looked at Jason and I was like, I don't know what we can eat here at Mayhurst. We have 37 acres. And so I had somebody come and teach, teach us what we can forage on the land. Because I was like, literally, they're rationing us to a gallon and a half of milk and we have a bed and breakfast and a family of nine here and we're just going, what? How Are we, How are we going to do this? And I just felt. I felt completely weak and incapable and I said, this is okay. I want to learn. I don't want to be beholden to this broken system.
Luke
Yeah.
Casey Cashell
What would you add to that?
Jason Cashell
Well, I mean, I think at the core of, at the core of human beings is a desire to cultivate.
Casey Cashell
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
I think the desire to take something and create something, creating something out of nothing. I think that, you know, that's a character of God and it's a character that's written on us as well. So I think there's just that natural desire. And I think now that we're seeing more and more people do it, I think it's. I think people are really just finding it. I think people are finding it very interesting and very appealing way of life.
Luke
Yeah. It also is the same reason why a lot of people are still moving towards homesteading. I think people thought that was going to be a trend that would skyrocket during COVID and then kind of die. But I'm not seeing that. I don't know about you guys, but it seems like people are still just as interested as ever.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Luke
What about the parents that feel unequipped? So they, like you said, we grew up not really learning skills like this. This wasn't a, a trend back then.
Casey Cashell
We, we.
Luke
If you grew up, you know, conventionally, you probably went to school, did sports and so you didn't really have much time to cultivate those kind of things. For the parents who feel really unequipped, like they don't know how to do anything, how do you encourage them to teach hands on skills?
Jason Cashell
That's probably one of the easiest.
Lisa
Oh, good.
Jason Cashell
And, and here's. Okay, well, it is, because. Here's why I think it was, it was Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher, the stoic philosopher, who said that a lot of times the impediment to the way becomes the way. And so the very thing that you think is a hindrance actually can become the way that it happens. So the fact that you don't know. A lot of times the people who don't know are the ones who are best at helping their kids learn. True. Because they are just one step ahead of the kid. So they're learning too. So it's exciting. I mean, look, I've done this my whole life. I've had to figure this stuff out and I'm still doing it with, with my kids. I'm like, look, I've never done this before. I mean, we were just doing something the other day, my son's like, dad, have you ever done this before? I'm like, no idea, but we're going to figure it out together. And that teaches them way more. You know, we got to get out of this mindset that the goal is the finished product. It's not. It's the process. That's the goal. And really, I think the parents who don't know anything as far as building and this kind of stuff really are at more of an advantage than they think. Just having the desire to want to learn and just try something again. I run across people all the time, and the first thing they'll say is, well, I've never done it before. As. As. As if that's, you know, that's the reason why I shouldn't try. Yeah, no, just try it. What's the worst thing that can happen? You try for 10 minutes, you're already 10 minutes smarter, right, Than you were when you started?
Casey Cashell
Yes.
Jason Cashell
So I. I think a lot of times parents need to get over that, because as they're getting over that, their kid is seeing that and their kids are catching that. And so their kids are not afraid of starting new things either, because mom and dad's not afraid of starting new. And they're not afraid of mistakes because they've seen mom and dad makes plenty of mistakes, and it actually encourages them to just not be afraid of mistakes and try it. And so that. That's one of the best encouragement that I can say. And the other aspect I'll give is this. A lot of times parents see an area that they want to grow in, like teaching their kids things, and they think they need to go run out and buy a book or listen to a sermon or do something for it.
Luke
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
Yeah. And instead of adding one more thing into your life, just add the kids into what you're doing. Just add the kids into your life. You know, if. If you're cooking, get them into cooking. If you're renovating on a project, get them in renovating. If you're trying to learn how to get. Grow better boxwoods, go to the library with them. Learn everything you can about boxwoods. Go to a nursery. We went with the kids. We took them to the Ford factory to learn about how they build cars. So again, there's so many opportunities out there, and there's so many people willing to teach you. So don't ever let that be a hindrance. It can actually be, again, the means whereby it actually happens.
Luke
That's a really good point. Very well said. Another thing I Think people will say is, you know, I wasn't taught that as a kid. Nobody ever taught me that. But that's not a good excuse anymore because we have the Internet and you can literally Google anything and watch a video on it, read an article on it. So all of the means to learning something is very spelled out at this point in history. So that's not going to work as an excuse. Which we all make those kind of excuses, right. For so many different things.
Casey Cashell
This is true.
Jason Cashell
They do well. And that's the way I remember. I remember the first project I did. The thing that hit me was, look, if. If I mess up, the worst thing that can happen is I got to call someone anyways.
Lisa
Yeah.
Luke
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
So I might as well give it a shot, right?
Luke
Yeah. Running that worst that could happen is a good, A good thing to help you. Because I get questions with sourdough a lot where people will say, like, I'll get like middle of the. Or not middle of the night, but like, I'll get a message like at bedtime that's like, I'm about to do this and I'm really afraid that by morning, like, what would you do if it was at this stage, this is them typing. That's what I'm doing here. And I'm like, I just probably would just see what happens in the morning and then bake it no matter what, you know, like, it's going to be fine. And that's how I've learned how to, you know, convert a sourdough recipe to whole grains. It's just, I've done it so many times, I've figured out at this point what works the best. But they're all, they all kind of work. You know, the worst case scenario is it's just not the best bread you ever made. So I think that's a really good point.
Casey Cashell
So true.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Luke
Yeah, absolutely.
Lisa
As a mom, I deal with a lot of messes in our home, specifically in the kitchen. Pretty much three times a day I'm wiping down the stove, cleaning from the messes made while cooking. And of course that means I have a need for products that are clean and safe for my family, but that are also effective at cutting grease. And I have been super impressed with branch basics because not only is it effective and clean, but. But also it's super easy to use. There's a concentrate that works for every single surface in your home. It just really simplifies the whole process. This holiday season, give the gift that truly matters. Health. We know your home is more than just a place. It's where your family gathers, grows and thrives. Branch Basics believes that creating a safe and healthy home is one of the most important things you can do for the people you love. Did you know that most conventional cleaning products are filled with harmful chemicals that can negatively impact your family's health? From toxic fragrances to harsh disinfectants, these products can irritate skin, disrupt hormones, and even pollute the air inside your home without you realizing it. But the good news is Branch Basic believes your health should never be compromised by the products you use to clean your home. That's why they're on a mission to educate families about these hidden dangers and provide a better, safer alternative. The Branch Basic Starter Kit's a powerful plant mineral based solution designed to clean every room in your home from top to bottom without harmful chemicals. Get yourself and your loved ones the Best gift of all the gift of Clean with Branch Basics For a limited time only, our listeners get 15% off and free shipping on their premium starter pack when you use code farmhouse ranch basics.com farmhouse that's 15% off your order at branch basics.com farmhouse with promo code farmhouse. Please support our show and tell them we sent you Get Branch Basics this holiday season because cleanliness matters. As the air turns crisp and the holidays draw near, comfort becomes the best gift of all. Quint delivers layers that last. Sweaters, outerwear and everyday essentials that feel luxurious, look timeless and make holiday dressing and gifting effortless. Quint has it all. $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters made for everyday wear. Denim that never goes out of style. Silk tops and skirts that add polish and down outerwear built to take on the season by working directly with ethical top tier factories. Quinn skips the middleman and offers prices 50% less than similar brands. I picked up some denim this year. I was looking for some high quality denim that fit me in this postpartum season and Quint really delivered on that. I'm also loving the Mongolian cashmere fisherman sweater to wear over top. A tank top and with my new denim works great to incorporate a wrap which is really important to me in this postpartum season. But also I feel so cozy put together and warm. I was telling my mom the other day about my Quint denim, how high quality quality it is but also super affordable. Step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good, look polished and last from Quint, perfect for gifting or keeping for yourself. Go to quint.comfarmhouse for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com farmhouse to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.com farmhouse we can't be so scared.
Luke
Okay, so how do you approach entrepreneurship as a family?
Casey Cashell
Well, that is definitely something that has been caught, I think, more than taught. So our kids have caught the bug because both Jason and I are like that. So that has been something that I will say if you are, if you have a disposition to create your business and to be business owners, your kids are going to be naturally more, more in tune to that. It is something that we have fostered in them from infancy, I mean, from little ages. And so, I mean, it started with the lemonade stands actually selling hot water to our neighbors. They sold hot waters and rocks to anything. Literally. It was, they picked cucumbers out of our garden and went to all the neighbors houses and sold all my cucumbers. And I was like, like what?
Luke
Those are pickles for the year.
Casey Cashell
I was like, okay, well, I'm glad you made money.
Luke
Yeah.
Casey Cashell
But so from little ages on, we've let them make their little businesses. When we, when we moved to Mayhurst, we very much said, this is your guys's opportunity to create your own businesses. You guys are able to, to build whatever you want to do. So Holly, if you want to have a horse farm here, that is, and that's your goal, then let's start dreaming, let's start planning. Let me help you in creating that and making it a possibility. And so, so literally on the moving ride up here to Virginia, I have a video talking to Holly and she was, I think eight or. Yeah, about eight years old. And she, I said, what are you most excited about? She said, making a horse. Yeah, she was already dreaming about it and five years in, she's still working on it, and so she saves money and her. All of that is going to it. I will say we, one of the things that we saw incredibly empowering in this, the, in creating the artists and kids hub was that the creating of online classes for our children to be the teachers was an incredible, incredibly empowering experience for them. So for them to learn a skill, teach a skill, film the skill, and then sell it online was an incredible experience. And so they learned that there was not a limit that they could actually create value into this world and change people's lives and create a community that people tune into, zooms for. And I think that has been one of the most beautiful parts of entrepreneurship. It's the thinking outside the box of saying what is a way that we could take what you guys have created in our learning and give it to the world on a bigger scale. And when we do that, you'll change lives globally. And so we are, we are getting like mail. They get mail and the, they get handwritten mail. There we go. They get stalemail.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Casey Cashell
The kids that take their classes around the world and it's really so cool to watch that. So I will definitely say an entrepreneurship is, is formative to the kids.
Jason Cashell
It is, yeah. Very much so.
Casey Cashell
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Luke
And the amount of opportunities that we have today because of the Internet, like you said, that would have been a difficult thing to do way back in the day because you'd have to find enough kids in your area who are interested in learning the skills and now they can reach the whole entire world. So there's. I do like to encourage people to think outside the box just because there's so much opportunity with the fact that you can reach everyone with whatever it is that you're interested in.
Casey Cashell
That's true.
Luke
That's cool. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about restoring Mayhurst. It's a Civil War era estate. How did that deepen your appreciation for heritage and history? I bet that was such a project and is ongoing still. Probably such a project.
Jason Cashell
Yeah. It's a massive. It's a massive undertaking.
Luke
And oh yeah, 10,000 square feet plus buildings. I can't even imagine.
Jason Cashell
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's. It's funny because a lot of, A lot of the guests that come feel sorry for us.
Casey Cashell
Do you ever take time off? Do you ever sleep?
Luke
Do you need some help?
Casey Cashell
Yes. We actually have had many guests stay and help us.
Jason Cashell
We've had.
Lisa
Really?
Casey Cashell
Yeah, it is incredible.
Jason Cashell
Many times. But, but, you know, as far as just appreciating it, I mean, the house we had before this, we were the second owners. It was built in the 70s and we basically stripped everything out of it and spent three years going to architectural salvage yards and buying everything old we can find from doors to wall trims to base trim everything, and then put it all inside the house to make it look. To make it look old. So, yeah, so we have.
Casey Cashell
It's much more fun to renovate something that actually is old.
Jason Cashell
It has a story.
Luke
Oh, you're telling me I'm building a new old house right now.
Jason Cashell
Right.
Luke
And so it's tricky.
Jason Cashell
It is tricky.
Casey Cashell
Yeah.
Jason Cashell
Because you're trying to give it character.
Casey Cashell
Yes.
Jason Cashell
So for us, you know, we love old houses, which Is funny because when we got married, we didn't renovate and we didn't love old houses, and now we renovate and we are obsessed with old houses.
Casey Cashell
Yeah. Over the years. Yeah.
Jason Cashell
It's just developed and.
Lisa
Well, that.
Luke
That was the same for us. Like, when we looked for our first house, it happened to be old. But that's what was the catalyst for loving old houses. I didn't. We didn't purchase that house or fall in love with that house because it was old. We fell in love with it because of the location and the price. And then it turns out it was old, and we, you know, that was cultivated along.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Luke
After that.
Casey Cashell
Yeah, I get it. It catches you, and then you can never go back.
Luke
Exactly.
Lisa
No, you.
Luke
You can't.
Casey Cashell
I know you can't. Well, so, I mean, I think something to know about the. The area, since a lot of people probably don't know where mayor sits, it's in Orange, Virginia. And that's the heart of early American history. So what we found. I grew up in Orlando. Jason grew up in Ohio on a boating town. We are not from historic places at all. And so when we found ourselves here in Orange and America's heritage, we are surrounded by the founding fathers estates. So Mayhurst was built by James Madison's family, and it is five miles from Mount Peliar. And then we're just 45 minutes from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in James Monroe's Highlands, and then right by George Washington's Mount Vernon. And so we have memberships to all of these historic places. That's where we go with our kids for fun. We're like, hey, let's go to Monticello today and go, you know, walk the gardens. And so we literally live in history and breathe it. And our neighbors are all. All of their places are historic. And it's just. It's amazing to be immersed in America's heritage. It has changed us a hundred percent. I. We loved history before, but now we're a little obsessed.
Jason Cashell
Well, Virginia, Virginia. Virginia, immersed in history and. Yeah, you know, the. One of the ways that we've. One of the things that we've done has been really cool is, you know, as I always tell the kids, behind every old house are families. And so we've traced all the families and we went to graveyards to find where they're buried at. We've traced the lineage and all this stuff. And so it's really been neat trying to put the puzzle together of. Of who has lived at Mayhurst.
Luke
That's Awesome. So did you guys move to Virginia for Mayhurst? Like, none of your family's around there?
Jason Cashell
No.
Luke
Okay, that's my thought.
Lisa
We.
Casey Cashell
We had searched for 10 years for an old estate, and when we saw Mayhurst, we loved it, and we toured it one time. We were here for one day.
Lisa
Wow.
Casey Cashell
My prayer in the driveway was, lord, please, please, please, please, please let this be it.
Luke
Right?
Casey Cashell
And then he totally just did miracle after miracle. And after 10 years of praying and God's timing, as always, is. It's good and it's sovereign, but it is totally not what we're expecting, it being three weeks before COVID So the bottom dropped out right after we got here. And so we. We said, this is going to survive. It will be a story of miracles, for sure.
Jason Cashell
Well, yeah. I mean, getting it was a miracle in and of itself, right?
Luke
Yeah. The. The guest part of it probably was slow for a while, but the price was probably good because I know what that did to. We bought a house, but nothing like Mayhurst. We just. Just bought the last house that we bought in 2019. And just what the market did after that is you just kind of almost couldn't get into something like that afterwards. But, yeah, you guys have done amazing work. It's all just absolutely stunning. So beautiful dream property. And I love what you're doing, and it's so cool to see a family working together and instilling those types of values and homeschooling and all of this in their. And their kids and then teaching it with everybody else. Tell everybody where they can find you. Of course, we'll leave links down in the description box in the show notes below to your artisan kid hub or your artisan kids hub and your socials. But, yeah, tell everybody where they can follow you and find you.
Casey Cashell
So you can find us on Instagram at the Cash Shells and at Mayhurst Estate. The Cash Shells is more of the adventure behind Mayhurst to State. So it's our family's whole adventure of cultivating this place and doing the Artisan Kids Hub. So you'll find us there then. Also, you'll find us on our website, which is really easy. It's thecashells.com and that's where we share our classes. So not just our artists and kids hub, but we also are teaching classes on marriage and hospitality. And so our heartbeat is to help families flourish holistically. And so there are more classes coming in the queue. We are filming more in November. So, yeah, yep, there's more to. There's ones to find that we've already done, and then there's more coming in the queue.
Lisa
Awesome.
Jason Cashell
Or.
Luke
Oh, oh, sorry.
Casey Cashell
Go ahead. You can just come to Mayhurst and visit us.
Luke
I know. I was looking through all the pictures again today. We were out on the way out to our farm and Luke was driving, and I'm like, I just really need to go here.
Jason Cashell
I agree.
Lisa
Yeah. Work trip. There you go. Yeah.
Luke
What kind of size of crowd do you. Can you have, like, when. If somebody wants to do some kind of retreat, what is the size they can do or can you host?
Casey Cashell
So we usually. The. The most that we usually do is 40.
Jason Cashell
Okay.
Casey Cashell
For our retreats right now. And so we hope to build larger venue spaces where we can have bigger retreats. But that's in the. That's in our prayer list right now. But for right now, it's 40. Wow.
Luke
So cool. Awesome. Well, thank you all so very much for joining me.
Jason Cashell
Yeah.
Casey Cashell
Thank you for having us. It was a joy.
Lisa
Thanks, as always, for listening to the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. My husband, Luke and I and our.
Luke
Eight kids work together side by side.
Lisa
On our little homestead and use our.
Luke
Blog, podcast and YouTube channel to reach.
Lisa
Other homemakers, home cooks and home setters.
Luke
With practice, practical recipes and daily family life.
Lisa
For everyday sourdough recipes, make sure to check out our blog, farmhouse on Boone.com. and to dig deeper, we do also offer a course called Simple Sourdough over.
Luke
At bitvit.ly FarmhouseSourdo course. That's all one word.
Lisa
Bit.
Luke
Ly FarmhouseSourdo course. If you're looking to learn how we.
Lisa
Earn an income online, check out my.
Luke
YouTube course at Bitcoin.
Lisa
Farmhouse.
Luke
YouTube course. All one word.
Raising Hardworking, Humble Kids in an Entitled World | Casey & Jason Cashell
Air date: November 4, 2025
Host: Lisa Bass
Guests: Jason & Casey Cashell (Mayhurst Estate)
This episode dives into the heart of cultivating hardworking, humble children in today’s often entitled culture. With Lisa Bass as host, and joined by Jason and Casey Cashell of Mayhurst Estate, the discussion centers around practical strategies for raising capable children, the importance of involving kids in real work and family life, the joys and realities of restoring a Civil War-era estate, and the Cashell family’s Artisan Kids Hub initiative. The episode also explores the revival of heritage skills, the growth of entrepreneurship within the family, and realistic encouragement for parents who feel unequipped to pass on hands-on knowledge.
Raising Kids Capable Beyond Expectations
Renovation, Cultivation, and Chores
Recognizing Kids' Abilities
The Power of Process, Not Just Product
Failure is Foundational
Adapting Skills to Urban Life
Encouragement for Unequipped Parents
Entrepreneurial Spirit from the Start
Artisan Kids Hub
Cashell Family Links:
Final Encouragement:
For event inquiries or in-person classes at Mayhurst, the family currently hosts up to 40 guests and future plans include expanding their community reach.