Once upon a time there was an aging man (by the name of Dave) who came upon an idea. It had to do with improving an old barn that he owned that was built way back in 1967.  The barn was originally used to raise and house miniature ponies. Over the years it went from abandoned and overgrown with blackberries to housing full sized horses for Dave's daughter. But, when the property could no longer support several horses its owner thought: "Lets convert it to a combination one-bedroom house and a barn." Alas! As might be expected Washington County quickly said: "No way that is ever going to happen." That left the property in a tenuous position.  Tear it down?  Sell it?  What to do became a challenging question for the aging old man.

 

The old man could not even think of tearing down this old landmark. Rumors still persisted about its original owner and his tragic past.  Some say his ghost still walks the grounds. Perhaps a real scary thought of the past is when a bobcat took up residence in the barn during the winter of 1979.    

 

The old man loved projects. So, he decided that he would simply convert the barn to a space where he could live.  The view was spectacular and the privacy was inspiring.  So, that's what he  did.  He hired a contractor and created his one-bedroom God given place that he called home.  He was proud of his new home and all the side benefits of living there - sunrise and moon rise above the cascades, rainbows, hawks, and the rare trillium flower that blooms once a year.

 

The old man loved having people over to his little home on the hill and he would enjoy sharing his story with people of how he lived in a converted barn. But, it was clear to him he could see a disturbing reaction from some people pondering the question:  "What in heaven's name were you thinking when you did this?"  Yet, others were saying with great enjoyment: "This is really cool. I love the place."  The old man wanted people to enjoy what he saw as a never-ending vision.  ...a piece of property that would evolve and be peaceful for his friends and neighbors.

 

Time passed and went by as it always does. Then, one sunny day there were some friends over enjoying the beauty of the valley and partaking in a mixture of libations. The owner told his friends the story of how some people seemed distressed when hearing that he "lived in a barn."  That was the day when the old man came up with an idea. Under the influence of those summer libations he blurted out:  "I wonder how people would react if I told them I lived in a carriage house?"  There was a lot of laughter and joking around. But, the idea of a renovated carriage house came to life. From that day forward the owner rarely said that he lived in a converted barn, but instead that he lived in a carriage house that he had rebuilt!  The image was received like a message from above. Suddenly, people had a romantic image of a quant old building being repurposed and renovated by an equally quaint old man!  The image of the carriage house was a huge success.  

 

The old man thought further and asked himself what he could do in the future with such a great image.  Not being the wisest of fools he grabbed every name he could think of that might have some future value.  Names like: Carriage House Wine, Carriage House Weddings, and even something as silly as Carriage House Cupcakes (Ha! You know how that ended up.)  But, then came the idea of lavender.  The deer don't like the taste, which was a plus. That's how Carriage House Lavender evolved.  

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The old man still lives quietly in his home with a vision of reflection and enjoyment for himself, neighbors and friends.  He knew that new siding with nice shutters and a new colonial style cupula and one of those fancy wind direction thing-a-ma-jigs would make it look more like a carriage house.  Add some beautiful gas lanterns along a reflective walkway gave the property a romantic feeling of tranquility. Finally, add lots of places to meditate, reflect, pray, and inspire are still the goal.  Each year as time and money permits something new is added to the Carriage House.  A nice water feature with the soothing sound of a water fall is high on the wish list.

 

But, in all honesty, the old man sometimes thinks to himself:  "What was I thinking?"