Buy handcrafted bath and body products — or create your own — at Farm House Collection

by Sara Schafer  |  sschafer@ruralmissouri.coop

The scent hits you as you walk through the door — maybe vanilla, maybe something floral or maybe a blend you can’t quite place. Inside, shelves are lined with candles, lotions and soaps. In the back, someone carefully measures drops of fragrance as another stirs melted wax. Welcome to Farm House Collection, a family business making a big impact in three small towns.

The Bohannons, members of Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, are accidental candle makers. They come from a long line of farmers, with Mike and Linda starting their farming career together in 1976. In Daviess County, they produce corn and soybeans with their son Travis and his son Cash. Their daughter Amanda and her husband Mitch, along with their daughter Molly, also farm and raise cattle.

In 2008, a candle business in their hometown of James-
port hit the market. As proud members of the community, they hated to see a business leave their Main Street. Through their farm operations, they knew how to work together as a family and candles would definitely be a step in business diversification. So they started the long journey of honing their candle-making skills.

“When we first started making candles, we had a whole wall full of things that did not work,” Linda recalls. “It took us about six months to learn how to do it.”

Luckily farmers understand trial and error. Mike quickly became the lead candle maker, learning all about fragrance ratios, wax blends and where to source glass jars. They expanded the candle portfolio and added bath and body products, including shea butter, lotion, body spray and reed diffusers.

In 2014, after steady growth in Jamesport, the family added a second store in Hamilton. That went well, which prompted them to add a third location in Parkville. Each store let them expand their products and customer base.

As their business grew, the Bohannons stayed focused on their family. Both of Linda and Mike’s grandchildren were raised in the store. In fact, Cash’s first phrase was, “Don’t touch the merchandise.” Originally the business only included Linda, Mike, Travis and Amanda. Today the business employs nearly 20 people in Jamesport, Hamilton and Parkville.

“We make all the candles, room sprays and home fragrances in Jamesport,” Amanda says. “Then we deliver them to the other stores and our wholesale partners.”

Nearly every day, Mike and his team pour candles in Jamesport. They buy two types of vegetable-based wax by the ton. The wax is melted in a large pot, and the team adds color and fragrance to make one of their nearly 50 fragrances of candles. “When we do a full tank, it takes us about 4 or 5 hours to work through it all,” he says.

A candle with their signature Farm House scent, for example, can be bought in a half-pint jar, fruit jar bucket, votive or wax tarts. They also offer a 96-ounce candle with four wicks that can burn for more than 300 hours. “We call it the commitment candle because you better really like the scent,” Mike says.

Because they offer so many styles of candles, the Farm House team is constantly testing and refining their process. Kasie Otto, who joined the team three years ago, has taken the lead on test burning the candles. She lights a series of candles for a four-hour cycle each day. They look at factors such as whether the candle melts consistently across the top, if the candle creates smoke or if the wick gets a mushroom shape on the end. 

“We have our little sheets for each candle and make notes after each burn,” Kasie says.

When a candle consistently meets all of Kasie’s marks, the recipe is written down and used. If it doesn’t, the team may change the wick size or its placement or adjust the dye ratio. If any don’t pass their scrupulous tests, those products are moved to their candle graveyard — never to hit shelves again.

The bath and body product lineup at Farm House Collection is equally as impressive as the candles. Customers can choose lotion, bar soap, hand soap and foaming soap in around 30 fragrances. Top sellers include cherry almond, pink sugar and red kingdom, which is a more masculine scent and nod to the Kansas City Chiefs.

At both the Jamesport and Parkville locations, customers can enjoy a fragrance bar and event space called The Farmacy. Instead of prescriptions like at a traditional pharmacy, this fun space lets you sniff, stir and blend your own one-of-a-kind products.

Guests can choose to make candles, lotion, foaming hand soap or room spray. First you choose your favorite fragrance from the sniff station; you can choose from more than 50 fragrances. Then a Farm House employee gathers all the supplies and guides you through the process of creating your product.

Jamesport is home to several community events, including the annual Heritage Days, which takes place this year on Sept. 22–23. During it and other gatherings, customers can enjoy special events at Farm House Collection. They routinely offer sip and shops, open houses and sales. On the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, they let kids pour their own votive candles. Last year around 320 small customers went home with special candles.

Beyond the candles and body products, Farm House Collection offers a variety of home decor, enamelware, dip mixes, holiday items and gifts for children and adults. The “Barn” is a section of the store that is adorned with barnwood from the late 1970s.

The family has learned to balance their farms with Farm House Collection. “We saw an opportunity to buy a business and have the family work together,” Amanda says. “Everybody has gravitated toward responsibilities they like and where their talents are best put to use.”

Mike leads candle making, while Linda is the paperwork and finance queen. Travis is the tech guru and oversees shipping and label printing. Amanda manages employees and buys a lot of the raw material. Together, they’ve turned a local storefront into a must-visit spot that reflects the charm, care and creativity of rural Missouri.

To learn more about Farm House Collection, call 660-684-6704 or visit www.farmhousecollection.com.