Hilarie Burton Opens Up About How Her Style Has Changed, Jokes She Feels ‘Real Cute’ Carrying Fertilizer on Her Farm

The ‘One Tree Hill’ alum and her husband purchased a New York state farm in 2018, where they work to keep animals and crops

Hilarie Burton says she feels her “cutest” when she’s outdoors, working hard on her farm.

Speaking with host Melanie Berliet at Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker 2024 Event in New York City on Thursday, Sept. 19, the 42-year-old actress opened up about how her style has changed since her teenage years on shows like One Tree Hill — and how moving out to a Hudson Valley, N.Y. farm changed her beauty standards.

Referring to a previous interview on The View when Burton said she feels an expectation to keep looking 17 forever but decided to let her gray hair grow out anyway, host Berliet asked the star if her hairstyle was a direct response to those “messed-up expectations.”

“You know what? I used to joke that I was a Los Angeles three, but I was a Hudson Valley nine,” Burton joked, opening up about the beauty standards in Hollywood versus where she lives now. “And isn’t it crazy how where you live can affect how you feel about yourself?”

“I remember going into our local farm shop feeling real cute, just like I am carrying the heaviest things I’ve ever carried. I’ve got animal food and I’ve got hay and I’ve got fertilizer and I’m covered in s—,” she continued, joking: “I feel so hot right now.”

According to the actress, she began wearing men’s clothing and dressing more for her newfound outdoorsy lifestyle when she moved with her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, to a farm in Rhinebeck, N.Y. — where they keep tons of animals and crops, including a donkey and emu.

“I always worn men’s pants my whole life. My dad was in the military and I used to steal all of the military pants with all the pockets,” she continued. “I remember moving to the farm thinking that my pocketed pants collection had finally paid off. I did it. I had something for every pocket.”

“The magic of that place is what it makes you feel like. I feel more accomplished there,” she continued, opening up about working her farm and what it feels like to return to Los Angeles for a TV or film shoot. “I feel like a better wife there. I feel like a better writer there. I don’t go on a set as an actor and be grumpy about it because it’s a special occasion. Normally I’m dealing with mud. If someone else wants to brush my hair, that feels cool.”

“There’s a magic in being in a place where everything else is a treat and this is my normal,” she added.

Burton and Morgan — who have been together since 2009 and share two children — first moved to Mischief Farm in April 2018. At the time, the couple announced via Instagram that they had purchased the 100-acre working farm, and the actress has been candid about how she maintains it and takes breaks to return to Hollywood once in a while.

Elsewhere in her conversation with Better Homes & Gardens, Burton opened up about how her lifestyle has changed her relationship, as well as how she parents, for the better.

“My husband is great, and I think he sees how happy I am, doing the things that I’m doing and I’m so proud of him for the things that he’s doing,” Burton said. “Sometimes it’s like a Victorian marriage where he goes on a sea voyage for three months, and he comes home and those hellos and goodbyes are really passionate and fun.”

“Centering our kids and giving them this lifestyle where my son can go out and shoot a movie in our weird backyard with all the boulders with moss on them and pretend he’s in Lord of the Rings. That’s cool. That’s what I want for him,” she added. “I think a lot of outdoor play has been taken away from kids. And so creating safe spaces where they can do it, their friends can do it is very, very important.”