Sorry to those of your who are subscribed to my RSS and received multiple renditions of this post. My tech guy (fiance) and I were hashing out a few more bugs… they’re still not all gone, so if things look a little wonky I’ll have to take it up with the fiance.
Then, the following Sunday, with little sister for company, I went to visit The Laurel Inn at the Hallow. Actually… I went to visit all THREE of the Inn properties! You see, weeks and weeks ago during the desperate search for a venue, I’d emailed a few vacation rental properties as many of them are nestled in some private hideaway often on lots of land. The Inn actually listed 2 spots on their website, The Carriage House and The Cottage, and in the email I received from owner Diane learned of a third property, The Inn.
The Carriage House
Little sister and I were scheduled to meet Diane at the Carriage House at 1 o’clock, sharp. We got there a little early and decided to show ourselves around the outside of the old stone house. It was beautiful; gorgeous wood work, original stone, perfectly weather worn gates, two rocking chairs sitting quietly on the slate porch… you get the idea. At 1:15 there was still no sign of Diane. So we walked around the back of the property to the barn. The barn was really cool. I found out later, it had originally been used as a school house. When we peered in through the windows we could still see the old built in cabinetry where the books and supplies would have been kept. Just then a car pulled into the driveway and two women got out. The passenger headed directly for the house while the driver came over to us and said “Diane sent me along to tell you she’d be late”. So far we were not getting off on the right foot. Little sister and I were invited to have a seat in the lonely rocking chairs while we waited.
The Carriage House was nestled on a corner lot with 4 acres of grass and trees, which backed up to a road. A busy road. As little sister and I sat and waiting 45 cars must have driven down that road! And they were loud! I was silently deciding this was not the place to hold our wedding, but I vowed to see the whole package before I chucked it into the other failed venues pile. Finally Diane arrived and apologizing profusely ushered us into the house.
I thought the house was huge on the outside but it was enormous inside! Room for 16 adults to sleep, plus children! The entire house was outfitted with the original hardwood flooring and every bathroom (I forget how many there were) had a jacuzzi tub! I won’t show you images of the inside, since we’re having an outdoor wedding, but it was lovely. There were tons of small rooms that opened onto each to make larger rooms, little nooks and crannies to cozy up in and some definite potential for cool wedding photos. Honestly, this would have been a great spot, our bridal party and some family members would have been able to stay with us before the wedding, we could have just walked out the front door to our ceremony and the area is really pretty (Lancaster, PA) except this is what you see from the front lawn:
And believe me, though there are no cars showing in that photo… you can definitely hear them!
So, we finished looking at The Carriage House, got back in our cars and headed 4 miles down the road to The Cottage.
The Cottage
For all intents and purposes, The Cottage is a small guest house at the end of the driveway at Diane’s own home. Her and her family live in a big farmhouse situated on 123 acres in the middle of Lancaster, PA. The Cottage was cosy inside. Nice hardwood floors, a full eat in kitchen and room to sleep about 8 adults. All in all, The Cottage itself was not really anything to write home about.
The grounds around the cottage however were really gorgeous. It was completely landscaped out front, bright yellow flowers were still blooming even while the trees changed color. A wooded area wrapped around the back of the house and cottage, to the right there was a small stream and beyond that the acreage continued up the side of a hill which was covered in more trees and twisted path ways. At the top of the hill there was a clearing for when the family (or guests) want to camp out.
Right at the bottom of the steps to the farmhouse’s wrap around porch was an old bell. Little sister was so excited about this bell! She must have taken at leat 8 photos! Admittedly I thought the bell was pretty awesome too. The night the fiance asked me to marry him we were at a bar in our neighborhood. He got down on one knee, popped the question and when I said YES they rang the bell at the end of the bar (and everyone clapped and cheered)! So, the fiance and I thought it might be cool to have a bell ring when we tied the knot. And the fact that The Cottage has a bell is kinda cool. (The Dancing Goat Farm actually has a bell too!)
The Inn
When she was done showing us around the Cottage grounds Diane took us across the road to The Inn. It was a short walk down a dirt road, over a bridge (which crossed a different stream than the one near The Cottage) and up The Inn’s driveway. The Inn was originally a old stone house, built in 1815, onto which Diane’s husband built two additions. The grounds were again, beautiful… large expanses of green grass and the trees surrounding The Inn were already changing. It was a perfect spot to put a tent for the wedding reception. We walked up the stone stairs to the stone porch of The Inn and after trying 3 different locked doors Diane took us inside. The entire inn had white oak hardwood floors, much of the interior had stone walls and timber ceilings and there were huge bay windows everywhere. There was a giant dining room, an eat in kitchen with a stone porch, and a chef’s kitchen. There were enough rooms to sleep 16-18 adults plus kids, and the three main suites had private decks built off the back of them. It was really incredible…
but did I mention it wasn’t done? Mmm hmm. Not done. As in unfinished, not completely built. The entire kitchen area was only a stud framed room. There were no walls, no floors, no appliances, nothing. The bathrooms were chalk lines on a subfloor. There were hardly any electrical lines run and very little plumbing. When I asked Diane when she estimated The Inn would be complete she told me “July“. I thought, Oh Ok, July’s not bad… that’s three months before the wedding. Then I asked If July should come and go with the Inn unfinished, whats your best guess at when it’d be done? “July!” Oh. And we thanked her and left for home.
Of the three spaces we saw The Inn would have been most ideal for the wedding but there’s no way I’m signing up to host my wedding at an unfinished venue! Diane’s husband is doing all the construction himself and although I don’t doubt his capabilities he is only one person. Needless to say, that doesn’t exactly leave me (remember? OCD, control freak) with a warm, toasty feeling about my venue being ready on time. Know what that means?
DANCING GOAT FARM, HERE WE COME!!
