Set on a hill in rural Miami County, Cynthia and John Maddock are creating one-of-a-kind goat milk skincare products with a listening ear to their customers and deep respect for their animals. It doesn’t take long to notice the joy their Nigerian Dwarf goats give them — each with names like Sugar or Belle. Their goats act like a dog would; when John enters the pen, they all run to him. When Cynthia gets out the animal crackers, they take them excitedly, but gently.

Ten years ago, Cynthia created Madd House Hill to sell unique skincare products out of the Maddocks’ home. Her husband, John, supported the business from the beginning and joined it full-time two years ago. The evidence of their business is clear stepping inside their home, where essential oils override any other potential aroma. A mix of lavender, lemon, orange and cloves linger and welcome a cozy feel.

THE GOAT MILK DIFFERENCE

When the Maddocks had their four young kids, who are all grown now, they were involved in 4-H and wanted an animal to show.

“We weren’t going to do cattle,” Cynthia says. “So we landed on goats, specifically the Nigerian Dwarf breed because they’re more manageable for kids. That’s really what got us started on our love for the animal and where we are today.”

After a stint in Illinois, the family came back to Kansas 11 years ago. Just one year later, Cynthia began mixing up milk-made merchandise that would become Madd House Hill. She decided to create the line of products out of a commitment to offer a gentle, nourishing and naturally moisturizing option to skincare, something arguably many people search for.

With the milk from the Maddocks’ 45 Nigerian Dwarf goats, Cynthia became a bit of a “madd” scientist and created the products Madd House Hill sells today. They offer a vast product line including goat milk soap in various scents, a highly popular insect repellent, goat milk lotions, all-natural deodorant, foaming hand soaps, lip balm and more.

“It was kind of my thing to get away,” Cynthia says of how the business was started. “It was kind of a big science experiment.”

Once she found the perfect formulations, she considered growing it into more of a side hustle as she raised her four kids.

“At the beginning, I told myself I could go to the farmers market and see if I could sell some soap as a way to help my daughter when she was in college,” she says. “Now we’re running out of manufacturing space. It’s a great growing pain to have.”

NO KIDDING (NOT IN THE WINTER)

What sets Madd House Hill products apart is the direct connection between the farm and the finished product.

Its soaps are palm-free and made without synthetic fragrance or added colorants, with scented varieties using essential oils. Cynthia and John care for their Nigerian Dwarf herd, collect the milk and make their products with real goat milk.

“We’re proud of our goats, the milk they produce and the products derived from them,” John says. “We’re out here doing the work, and it shows in our products.”

Their process involves the breeding season, typically in November, which is deliberate so kidding happens in warmer weather.

“We’ve done winter kidding before and it never fails they want to kid on the coldest night of the winter, in the middle of the night,” Cynthia says. “We would rather not do that to ourselves and to our goats because it is harder on them, too.”

Kidding typically starts in late March at Madd House Hill and can last into May some years. The baby goats are weaned at around eight weeks, then milking starts. From June to August, the Maddocks milk twice a day, similar to many dairy cattle operations. In September, they transition to once-a-day milking and stop milking in October before breeding season begins again in November.

“We rarely travel during milking season since it’s hard to find someone to help — it’s a tall ask for most people,” Cynthia says. “For our process to work, the milk has to be frozen because we need the milk throughout the winter. We have a walk-in freezer, plus about four in the garage. It's a constant rotation — but we have a process."

GROWING WITH GRACE

Their process has delivered the results they hoped for. Cynthia says their growth has been sustainable, and they focus more on customers’ needs and feedback than exponential growth.

“It's been a very manageable progression, but a very fruitful one,” she says. “We try really hard to not blindly follow trends and rather listen to what our customers need. We’ve had customers come up to us in tears about a skin condition they’d been chronically dealing with, and they tell us once they used our products, it totally changed their condition. That’s the kind of growth we want — authenticity and results — instead of growing into something we’re not. Too much growth and I think we’d lose a lot of what makes us different.”

Cynthia is the first to admit she’s not a doctor, even with customers pointing to vast changes in skin conditions or other health-related issues due to their goat milk products purchased from Madd House Hill. She points to the products being authentic, natural and not diluted for their success.

Ten years later, Cynthia and John remain committed to growing Madd House Hill without losing the personal care behind it — knowing the goats, listening to customers and staying closely involved with every product the business makes.

The Maddocks may not be doctors, but they’re OK with being a bit of a couple of mad scientists to offer high-quality goat milk products people keep coming back for more. But we’ll spell madd with two Ds for John and Cynthia Maddock and Madd House Hill.

 

Madd House Hill is part of Shop Kansas Farms, a site developed during the pandemic to connect Kansas farmers and ranchers with people looking for products raised and grown by them.

You can also find Madd House Hill online at maddhousehill.com and in several retail stores.

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