01The Obsession
The Bulldog Farm started with one very specific woman's very specific obsession. Kate has wanted a house full of bulldogs since she was three years old — she loved the silly personalities, the wrinkly faces, the ability to clear a room with a single well-timed flatulence, and snores that could reportedly be heard a mile away. (Make of that what you will about her eventual choice in husband.) Her stated life goal, unchanged since preschool: as many bulldogs as she could humanely fit under one roof.
02The Conversion
Derek did not share the dream. He married into it. A good husband does what a good husband does, so he played along with bulldog number one, then two, then several more, mostly just to make his wife happy. A few years and a lot of drool later, something clicked: bulldogs have an absurd, bottomless amount of love to give, and the world was clearly running short on humans to receive it. So what began as a couple of rescue bulldogs taking over a backyard in Darien grew into a proper ranch — Derek's way of sharing what he'd been fully converted into loving. Camp Chalupa, our summer day camp for kids, grew out of that same yard.
03The Verdict
Once the kids, Charlotte and Cooper, came along, the family verdict was unanimous: bulldogs are the only dogs this family will ever own. Charlotte made it official around age six, coining the motto still posted by the gate today: “Bulldogs are better than Golden Retrievers.”
