Chris Keaton & Amy Vaughan’s horse farm is a restful retreat from everyday life.
By Jean Hardiman
HQ 106 | SUMMER 2019
Dr. Amy Vaughan and her husband Chris Keaton both spend their weekdays with their feet on the gas pedal. She’s a successful Barboursville dermatologist, and he stays busy as an attorney, helping his wife with the business end of her practice and the planning of a new business — a medical spa that she will operate with another local practitioner.
They fill their days with helping others address challenges, whether health related or legal, and they’re good at it. But when the evenings and the weekends roll around, they want to retreat a bit. To enjoy some quiet. To hide away with their friends of the four-legged variety and let the peace of green hills and swaying trees settle inside them.
About 16 years ago, they found the perfect place and moved from Huntington’s Southside to 50 acres in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, where they now live happily with their four horses (along with a boarded horse), their two dogs, some barn cats, pond fish, the occasional roaming deer and other wildlife. They’ve had a number of pigs on the farm as well. For these two nature and animal lovers, it’s been a great escape.
“It’s nice to have time to yourself,” Vaughan said. “We tried to make this our ideal getaway.”
The property has been a work in progress, involving 16 years of renovations, updates and some actual heavy labor thrown in.
“The first three or four years, we did a lot of grunt work,” said Keaton, who helped transform a jungle of heavy brush into lush green lawns bordered by handsome wood fencing.
The most recent project has been the renovation of the kitchen by Creative Kitchens in Huntington. Their home is French Country inspired, with some rustic ties to nature mingling with classic pieces as well as some fun art pieces paying homage to animals.
The home also bears portraits of the horses who are members of the family. While Keaton has helped care for the animals over the years, Vaughan is an accomplished equestrian, having shown in A-rated competitions in Lexington and Florida, as well as other places. She started at age 4 and gave up showing about five years ago when running her dermatology practice and showing at the highest level got to be too much.
As if they weren’t busy enough already, the ambitious couple is currently planning the opening of The Retreat Aesthetic and Vitality Center near the new Christopher’s Eats location on Route 60, which they will open with a partner.
But Vaughan still loves her horses and rides them three or four times a week.
“They’re just beautiful creatures, and they have such kindness in them,” Vaughan said. “They can sense your mood and know when you’re feeling down and can give you a nice escape. We like being able to see the horses every day. We had horses before, but we kept them boarded elsewhere. This is great. I don’t have to worry as they get older. They’re here and will be taken care of.”
They have two dark bays, Regis and Woody, both of whom Vaughan used to show, a miniature horse named Theodore and a mare named Ellie.
Vaughan described Regis as a “grumpy old man,” and Theo as “just naughty,” probably because he likes to escape now and then.
Meanwhile, Woody is described as laid back. “He’s just happy to be here,” Keaton noted.
Ellie is both kind-hearted and in charge, the couple said. She has been at their farm the longest. She’s also been one of Vaughan’s show horses, but strained a ligament on her back leg. Vaughan can still ride her and hack her, but does not compete with her.
“Regis is a hunter. He jumps fences. He was sent from a trainer I used to work with in Cincinnati when he needed a new forever home,” Vaughan said. “Woody is a hunter too. Both have shown in Lexington and Wellington, Florida. I still ride and jump Regis but not competitively.”
Theo is a wonderful companion to the other horses, she said, adding that she’s always wanted a miniature.
They’ve made upgrades for the horses as well. Outdoors, they have more than just green fields for the horses to graze, including dedicated spaces for jumping and practicing. In the stables, they have cozy new stalls and a spacious indoor arena to get some exercise in the winter months.
Keaton, who likes to stay busy, also has some rooms in the barn where he’s keeping his father’s love of model trains alive by organizing his sizable collection while planning to create some layouts of his own.
“In the winter, it gives me a project,” Keaton said. “I don’t think my dad knew how much he had.”
While they originally planned to build an entirely new house up on a hill on their property, they’ve changed their minds and gradually upgraded and added to the original house. From Keaton’s tailor-designed office to their workout room to their outdoor living space to a gorgeous bathroom designed by Creative Kitchens, they’ve pieced together their ideal spaces.
“One thing we did when we moved here was make a list of everything we wanted so we would never want to leave,” Vaughan said.
They both love water, so they put in a pool. They also have a small pond with catfish, carp and smallmouth bass, a nice feature especially for Keaton, who used to do a lot of fly-fishing.
“It’s just so peaceful up here,” Keaton said of the pond. “It’s cozy and backed away.”
They’ve hired a couple of people to help them keep up the property, and have decided that living in the country suits them quite well.
“Everyone out here has been really great,” Keaton said. “You don’t see your neighbors often, but you know they’re there. And most importantly to us, they are good people.”
