It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post. Toooooo long. But, I will make a fair excuse for myself. We’ve been busy with our little Inn. By now, our readers are pretty aware of our Inn. Our website has pretty much become dedicated to it. It’s been a blessing. A very, very unplanned blessing.

It all began in January of 2021. We had remodeled our barn’s guest suites for our family and had a few members stay in them since we finished. All seemed good, until we got that first winter electric bill. Now, I’m not sure why I didn’t see this coming,..our barn is a massive structure and it needed heated. But, I lost a few years off my life when I opened that bill. It was over $1000!

I was a teacher. Nick was retired. You can do the math to see that we couldn’t afford this. What were wegoing to do?

I had used Airbnb a few times in our travels, and I knew that they were always accepting new hosts. I had never hosted before, but it couldn’t be that hard, right? Nick told me I was completely crazy. “Nobody is coming to a farm in Kentucky” he said. I decided to just list our Rose suite. Let’s just see what will happen…

Well, A LOT happened. Rose got it’s first reservation on February 1, 2021.

Then it got another reservation, and another and a lot more. We were able to pay our electric bill.

The following month, we decided to list Sunflower and Lavender on Airbnb. We were shocked. They did well too. We quickly were making enough to cover all of our bills, and our mortgage. This is when we realized we had something special here. I had been looking for a way to share our ranch with the public. Well, here it was. As a little Inn.

The guests were loving it. They loved meeting the animals and exploring the property. We started making upgrades. We listened to suggestions and were constantly improving. We put in patios, fire pits…we were on a roll.

It hasn’t stopped. We got all the licensing we needed to operate our business and we began listing on sites other than Airbnb. In May, 2022 we finally set up our website to be able to take reservations.

This was big, and May was a big month in another way, too: It also was the last month I taught. The Inn was doing so well, which also meant it needed both Nick and I here; cleaning and working it every day. I had big ideas for where we could go with this. I had to commit fully tough. It was no longer a “side business.”

It was during the summer of 2022 that we began offering morning muffins and evening treats. We built a dog park, and a Gallery lounge area.

It has been an incredible adventure, and we are only getting started. It has been such a joy and a blessing to welcome so many people. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Each of our suites has a special story…a history from when we first moved in, to its decor, to what it is now.

It is my joy to share these stories.

Rose

Don’t judge, but I think of our suites as my “girls” and I even have nicknames for them. Well Rose, my Golden Child, is my “Rosie” or “Rosie-too” as I sometimes call her when I’m doing those daily afternoon cleanings. Rose is our largest suite. It has a living room, kitchen/dining room, bathroom and bedroom.

I knew that I wanted Rosie to have the feel of a beautiful rose: elegant, traditional, old fashion and extremely feminine. When designing the decor for this room, we went with a lot of white, pink and gold tones. The suite had many natural wood elements and we kept most of them. The wood adds a country feel, which is appropriate for anyone visiting a farm. It also adds an “English Cottage” feel, which works beautifully in Rose.

For lighting, we added mini chandeliers. These, combined with the pink decor and floral stencils, gave the room a very pretty femine look.

The bedroom has rose themed quilt and matching curtains. The pattern is busy and stands out in the otherwise simple room. Of all the bedroom comforters I have ever seen, I absolutely love Rose’s.

In July of 2022, we added the pink couch. If ever a pink couch had a place, it is the Rose suite. The couch (which pulls out to a full bed) is exactly what the room needed. My aunt gave us a floral chair to further add to the room’s charm.

Our Rose suite will make you want to sip a glass of tea, or champagne, and nibble on a delicate macaron or two.

Sunflower

From the biggest to the smallest. Sunflower, or “Sunny” as I call her, is our smallest suite. I absolutely adore Sunflower and I am wildly protective of this suite. As is typical with your youngest child, Sunflower tends to be criticized for being smaller, not having a kitchen, etc…but I find her precious.

Sunflower is the perfect suite if you are only staying a few nights and won’t be cooking. The suite has a living room area, with a coffee maker and mini fridge. The separate bedroom has a King-sized bed. This is a special feature because Sunflower is our only suite with a King bed. The bathroom is a great size, and it has a doorway that puts you directly in the center of the Gallery lounge.

What is most fascinating about Sunflower is the transformation it has received. The room was nothing special when we first moved to Kentucky. We decided to redo it with a children’s theme (for my sisters with kids). Originally, the room had bunk beds and a tent. When we first listed it on Airbnb this was a popular draw for families. However, as time went on, we realized the room needed to appeal to bother families and the single traveler/couples. In February 2022, we completely remodeled this suite for a second time. The changes gave it a very modern feel. The dark blue and gray tones in the room were the perfect backdrop for black and white photos of our animals. Aside from our Gallery, Sunflower has the most photos. I love how personalized the room is. I also added a pair of my first cowboy boots (I think I was 2). The room, even with its sophisticated remodel, will always have child-like innocence to it.

Lavender

And now for Lavender. Lavender is our most popular suite. If your not sure which one Lavender is, I will say one word: Goats.

Yes, this is our Goat Room. Lavender has a bedroom window that looks directly into our Goats’ stall. As you sleep at night, you can watch them. It doesn’t get anymore unique than that. And, I will tell you, these girls are very entertaining. They love an audience!

Lavender, which contains a full kitchen, large bedroom and large bathroom, didn’t always have its signature Goat window. Originally the air conditioner was on the wall. In the summer of 2021, we learned that this was blowing hot air into our barn and it needed to be moved. While moving it, we say that the “hole” would be the perfect spot for a barn window. Originally, the window looked into Bubba B’s stall, but we switched it with the goats during a barn remodel later that summer. The goats are perfect for this since they sleep in their stall every night and absolutely love an audience.

They will steal your heart. This suite is extremely popular. We always recommend booking it well in advance if you know this is the suite you want.

Our Lavender guests tend to be a lot of fun, too. We have stayed in touch with many of them and always enjoy when they are in town.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about how our Inn started, and each suite. If you have stayed with us before, we love to hear which suite is your favorite!