Heather and Josh Mazen have turned a spare bedroom in their Falls Church home into a creative space where he makes artisanal soaps and she designs whimsical signs. They call their homespun studio FrontYard Farm in reference to their first shared project, when they planted their yard with natural wildflowers.
On the soap front, what started out “more as a science experiment than a business” is now a thriving little enterprise, Josh says, using traditional soap making practices and local ingredients. Forgoing palm or soy oils, his “Farm Bar” products are made with essential oils and pasture-fed pig lard procured from small Shenandoah farms, while the vegan “Garden Bar” line swaps the lard for olive and coconut oils. The cold-pressed soaps—available in scents such as lemongrass, peppermint, tea tree and orange-charcoal—are sold as single bars ($5.50) or via monthly subscriptions ($15.50-$36).
Heather’s signs ($20-$55) express that same rustic sensibility in a different medium, with hand-lettered phrases and motifs such as sunbursts, plants and coffee cups. She also does commissioned work for local shops and businesses. (Check out her custom, bird-themed signage for The Toy Nest in Falls Church.)
The Mazens donate 10% of all sales to racial and climate justice organizations. For the Ward 8 Woods Conservancy in D.C., Heather designed signs based on community input for #CleanItClaimIt, a litter cleanup campaign.
“We didn’t start making, thinking we would meet all these people and create community,” Josh says. “But that’s been a very pleasant surprise.”
Find FrontYard Farm soaps and other skin care products online and at Shop Made in Virginia in Alexandria and Virginia Mercantile in Clifton. Decorative signs are sold at The Urban Farmhouse in Arlington and Lemon Lane Consignment in Falls Church.