BECKY THAEMERT PANCOST…I was born and raised in Manhattan, KS. Growing up I spent summers, vacations, and holidays in rural North Central Kansas as both my parents were raised on family farms in this small area of KS (as were the generations before them).

I graduated from KSU with a BS in Elementary Education. After a short teaching stint I decided that I wanted to work with younger children (infant- 4yrs), and that I needed to run my own business. So, I opened a daycare out of my home which I continued with for 10 years.

During this time I developed a greater awareness of my own interests and talents. I discovered farm auctions and jumped at any salvage opportunity, filling my garage with items that I just knew someday I would find the right place for. I spent many weekends exploring and photographing the architecture and history of old homes- specifically abandoned farm homesteads in North Central Kansas.

In 1999 I purchased what is now Stone Cottage Farm. It was a limestone farm homestead in the heart of Post Rock Country that had been abandoned for 30+ years. With the help of local craftsmen I began the process of restoring the house to function as a bed & breakfast and turning the granary into an Antique Store. In the summer of 2002, after many long days, weeks, months…I opened for business. What an incredible journey!

Since living here at Stone Cottage Farm with my wonderful husband and children, I have become passionate about the history and legacy of these old homesteads. I am deeply rooted in this legacy as both my mother’s and father’s ancestors were homesteaders in this small area of Kansas (living in dugouts, farming, building houses and barns, surviving deaths of spouses and children, tornado destruction…) These structures are a testament to the passion, talent, desire, perseverance, and ingenuity of our forefathers. All this is what we are trying to carry on in our own way and is what ties all aspects of our businesses together: Reclaimed Stone, Architectural Salvage, Bluestem Stoneworks, and the Bed & Breakfast.

JON PANCOST…I was raised in Ohio on a family farm and began my work career like most farm kids at the tender age of three or four. As soon as I was old enough to be useful I was put to work. My Grandfather would have me drag a magnet around the jobsites picking up stray nails. He and my Dad instilled in me a very strong work ethic and taught me that even the smallest job is important.

By the age of nineteen I was ready to head west. I was educated at the University of Montana and in the Bitterroot Mountains. My love of geology and stone was consummated in the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness. I learned to mountaineer, rock climb, ski, and kayak out there, anything anyone would teach me. In the mid eighties I began guiding youth at risk on wilderness trips. Needing to fill in my work schedule I turned to surveying and an old love of building, architecture and stonework. I began to learn the masonry trade which blossomed and grew. From there it has become a passion that continues to fill and intrigue me today. The feeling of stone in my hands is like being grounded. It brings me great pleasure and connects me to the earth. I learn something new every day either from my mentors, from masters of the past or from the stone itself. My quest has taken me all over the west. I have worked with great people from New Mexico and Utah to Oregon, Montana and Idaho. I believe everyone has something to teach me and continue to learn my trade and others day by day. I have learned that all things are connected and that is especially true in the crafts and trades of architecture.

One of the reasons for coming to Kansas was to study the work of the old masters posthumously. There are very few true masters left alive these days and they are far between. Living here in the Post Rock area offers me an opportunity I could not have found in many other places and never expected to find here. Sadly some of my education comes from dismantling old and ruined buildings. Each building I see or salvage has a story to tell. Some are glorious some tragic. It is with these tales, working with others, and raising my family with my wonderful wife that I continue my daily edification.