Go Inside Amanda Seyfried’s "Balanced Life" on an Upstate NY Farm: "Best Decision"
Amanda Seyfried isn't based in Los Angeles like many of her celeb counterparts. Instead, she's all about the farm life.
As an Emmy-winning actress, Amanda Seyfried Is no stranger to the glare of the Hollywood spotlight, but she regularly seeks refuge in a more rustic setting.
These days, Seyfried — who stars in Peacock’s new limited series thriller Long Bright River, debuting Thursday, March 13, — spends most of her time with her family at her farmhouse in upstate New York, growing her own vegetables and caring for the farm’s animals.
“I moved upstate long before I had a family. Staying here was the best decision for privacy, peace and nature. It offers a more balanced life than the city does,” she told Forbes last year of the decision.
To learn more about Seyfried’s picturesque farmhouse, nestled into the Catskill Mountains, and why she believes its “essential” for her mental health, read on below:
Where does Amanda Seyfried live? All about her farmhouse
Seyfried’s stone farmhouse in the Catskills, once featured in Vogue, is the perfect blend of classic and contemporary. With the help of a team of designers from General Assembly, the transformed space still uses much of the original structure while weaving in plenty of natural light and wood elements.
“The house was meant to be a place to nest and a place to grow into over time,” Sarah of General Assembly told Vogue Living. “It was important for us to keep the house feeling like a home, with personal touches and natural materials.”
One of the mom of two’s favorite spots is an oversized window seat the size of a twin bed, which spans the windows along the back of the living room.
“On the weekends, I’ll wake up with the kids on Saturday mornings, I make them breakfast, and then I sit in the window box while the kids watch Bluey,” she once told House Beautiful. “I’ll crochet there or just sit there—that’s me decompressing. It’s everything. It’s my happy place.”
The room also features white walls, beautiful painted white rafters, natural wood floors, green plants, a large, cozy couch, and two chairs.
There is one space in the three-bedroom home Seyfried is admittedly particular about and that’s the kitchen, where she has custom green-hued cabinets, wood butcher block countertops, a muted geometric backsplash, and an island.
“There's one thing that makes me want to cry: if [the kids] scratch the cabinets or people touch them with their dirty hands. I'm like, ‘Get your filthy hands off my cabinets,’” she confessed to House Beautiful. “If you drip spaghetti sauce on it or even water or coffee, you got to clean it up right away. But nobody is as focused on the cabinets as I am. And that's okay. I do not fault that, to each their own.”
An adjoining barn has been transformed into the perfect guest suite, which uses natural wood and stone to create a space filled with rustic charm. Repurposed wood stall doors separate the bedrooms from a large living space, paying homage to the barn’s roots in an updated way.
Why does Amanda Seyfried live on a farm in upstate New York?
While the Mean Girls star still loves to get dressed up for Hollywood events, she also knows “the next day I’ll be home and even happier in my boots in the mud feeding the animals,” she told Forbes.
The country home has become a refuge for Seyfried and allows her to pass her deep love of animals onto her two children, Nina and Thomas. The family farm has goats, horses, cats and, of course, Seyfried’s beloved 15-year-old pup, Finn.
“I can see them learning what a responsibility and treat it is to care for pets, even at their young ages,” she told the outlet of her children. “I think all pets give us purpose.”
Although Seyfried, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, may be happiest in the quiet, rural community she know calls home, she immersed herself in another distinctive neighborhood for her latest role on Long Bright River.
Seyfried plays Philadelphia police officer Mickey Fitzpatrick, a woman searching for her missing sister in neighborhood hit hard by the opioid crisis in the eight-part limited series, premiering March 13 on Peacock.
“It was a really hard character to crack and I got to explore a very specific neighborhood in Philly,” she told Forbes. “I love these kinds of stories because they’re so important for us as a society to explore through human experiences.”
To see Seyfried bring the complex character to life, watch Long Bright River on Peacock, beginning March 13.
