The White Family 

Mountain Home, Arkansas

The White Family 

Jason White (45) – Retired Marine

Tara White (52) – Retired Nurse

Jacob Burley (30) – Tara’s oldest son

Chloe Hedrick (24) – Jacob’s girlfriend

Zach Burley (28) - Tara’s youngest son

Holi Burley (28) - Zach’s wife

Connor Howell (6) – Chloe’s son (from a previous relationship)

The Ridge

On a steep ridge outside Mountain Home, Arkansas, the White family is building something they believe modern life has lost, a place where multiple generations live, work, and rely on each other under the same stretch of land. Together, they’re transforming their 17-acre property into a family compound they call, “The Ridge.”

The roots of that vision began years earlier with Tara. As a single mother raising her children, Tara stepped away from a conventional lifestyle and built an off-grid homestead in rural Ohio, surrounded by Amish farms. There she learned to raise animals, grow food, and build a self-sufficient life for her family with her own two hands. She spent nearly two decades living off the land with her children, learning the ins and outs, risks and rewards of off-grid living. Then life changed!

Tara met Jason, a Marine who had spent 17 years in the military and was ready for a different kind of life. Their connection came through Tara’s youngest son, Zach, who had been dating Jason’s daughter. Even after the relationship ended, Zach stayed close with Jason, especially after joining the Marines himself and looking to Jason for mentorship. As both adults remained concerned about Zach navigating the pressures of military life, Jason and Tara developed a close friendship that eventually turned into a relationship. Rooted in shared values of independence and self-reliance, they blended their families and moved to Arkansas to build something new together.

The ridge is already becoming home to the next generation. Tara’s son Jacob helped build much of what exists today and is now working to establish a home on the property with his girlfriend, Chloe, as they prepare to welcome their first baby later this year. Chloe grew up in a very different environment, a world of frozen food, air conditioning, and convenience. Inspired by Tara and the independence of life on the ridge, she’s moving onto the property while pregnant. This will be a major adjustment for the couple and for the family.

Chloe and Jacob have been together less than a year and already find themselves expecting a child, moving in together, and preparing to live off the grid. They’ve talked about marriage, but no plans have been set. Being pregnant and living off grid can bring its share of blessings, it’s a return to nature, offering peace, tranquility, and a healthier way of life. However, it also brings risks: exposure to the elements, extreme weather, muddy roads that can easily trap a car, tarantulas, and other wild animals. It’s going to be a big adjustment for Jacob and Chloe as they not only continue getting to know each other as a couple, but also navigate pregnancy while building a life together on an off-grid homestead.

Over the past several years, the family has slowly transformed the ridge piece by piece. Gardens started from seed, livestock pens, greenhouses, and multiple buildings have been built largely by hand, turning raw land into a working homestead. Life on the ridge is constant work. Days begin with animals to feed and gardens to tend before moving into a long list of projects, running the sawmill, preserving food, clearing land, and building whatever the family needs next.

But living off grid also comes with real risk and constant challenges. Equipment breaks when you need it most, storms can wipe out weeks of work overnight, and a simple mistake with a chainsaw, tractor, or power tool can turn dangerous fast when you’re miles from town. Water systems fail, predators threaten livestock, and muddy ridge roads can strand vehicles for days. Jason brings the discipline and construction skills shaped by his time in the Marines, tackling the toughest builds and heavy equipment jobs, while Tara runs the heart of the homestead, planning the gardens, raising animals, cooking, and preserving the food that sustains the family throughout the year.

Looking toward the future, Tara and Chloe plan to start a roadside stand selling baked goods, fresh vegetables, and homemade herbal tonics. As their family grows, Jacob and Chloe are also planning their future on the ridge, including a likely engagement and wedding in the near future. But with a baby on the way and the daily demands of off-grid life, building a stable future here will require resilience, teamwork, and a willingness to face whatever the ridge throws at them next.

To Jason and Tara, what they’re building feels like a kind of paradise, a place where family stays close, food comes from the land, and life moves at a slower, more intentional pace. They still hope to bring more of their children to the ridge in the years ahead, including Tara’s youngest son, Zach, who is considering moving his own family to the property. But not everyone sees the dream the same way. Tara’s outspoken best friend, Deb, openly questions everything from composting toilets to butchering animals, while her cousin Brian, a polished traveling salesman from Houston, can’t imagine life without modern comforts. They worry about the couple’s safety and the long-term sustainability of the homestead, yet curiosity keeps pulling them back to the ridge, where the Whites remain determined to prove that the life they’re building isn’t just possible, it’s worth it.