Progress on The New Event Space Coming to Mrs. Colonial
- Sandy Sheldon
- May 2
- 5 min read
The WHERE, the WHY, the WHAT
Happy Sunday Home & Garden Lovers!
This past week has resulted in tremendous Progress On the New Event Space Coming to Mrs. Colonial. Sandy was rushing around so much I thought I was going to get whiplash, or maybe even that her momentum as she ran by, around, or through me a zillion times was quite literally going to knock me off my foundation. I'm happy to say, as of this morning, I'm still solidly positioned on my perch up here at the farm.
Today I wanted to give you the progress on the new event space, but first, enquiring minds have been asking where, why and what?
WHERE
The new space is being installed behind my boyfriend, the hunky man of steel, or A.K.A. the Mister's exotic car garage. After completion of the garage in 2020, a tree studded space occupied the land between the back of the garage and the city park trail.
A couple of years ago, the Mister decided we needed to add an additional solar array to further decrease our carbon footprint. (During the previous renovation we had installed the first solar array on my roof.) The installation of the new array resulted in the extraction of way too many trees, it was installed in the wrong location, and an unsightly view became the highlight of looking through the windows at the back of the garage. The space became a visual nightmare, Sandy's words. Over the next two years tall grass and weeds took over and the space became a fire hazard.
WHY NOW
If I know Sandy, she simply couldn't stand looking at the ugly space anymore, coupled with her nonstop creative brain going into overdrive and needing to create, there was no stopping this one.
WHAT
From time to time, friends and family have asked if it's possible to have their events at the farm. The initial home renovation was all about bringing your favorite old house lady back from the dead, and creating a space to have the famous family band parties, not large events. When Sandy hosted a 60th birthday party for the Mister a few years ago, she purposely hired a wedding planner to help her with the party. She requested the wedding planner evaluate the property and determine if it would be a good space to host future events including weddings.
THE VERDICT WAS RENDERED
Carly Saber Events, who are awesome and someone we highly recommend for your next event, determined the farm needed an additional space to be able to host weddings and other large events - an outdoor space to host both ceremonies and banquet dinners. The verdict initiated an immediate spark. The question was, is the spark going to wither away, or was Sandy going to become obsessed and run with the ideas exploding in her head. We now know the answer. The idea all along was to have the space installed out in the field, but as the area behind the garage became unbearable to look at, the plan switched and the location moved.
She had an initial vision of what she wanted the space to look like and how she wanted it to function. A prominent feature would be old growth olive trees to bring an element of sophistication and permanence.
WHAT HAPPENED THIS PAST WEEK - With Progress on The New Event Space Coming to Mrs. Colonial
Sandy hired a garden designer she has worked with multiple times before. They put their heads together and decided they would plot an initial course of action, but the space had so many unknowns that they would need to design on the fly as they started carving out the space.
The first step was to have additional trees and debris on the ground removed.
It went from the photo above to the video below.
Like much of the topography up here at ROCK Haven Farm, beautiful mossy rocks reign, but they can be very deceiving. They're almost never limited to the size they appear to be on the surface. The rocks you see above, actually turned into the boulders you see below.
Once most of the boulders in the main space were removed, we began carving out the pathway that will be used as the grand entrance to this new space. The rocks were just too big, and the space in the trees too narrow, so . . . .
Additional equipment was brought in to break up the tops of the rocks instead of having to remove them completely.
After many hours of tree, debris, and boulder removal, many loads of soil were brought in to raise the surface and establish grade for proper drainage.
Sandy had to run back and forth to the lake house because she has multiple projects happening up there. Each time she came back, what she saw wasn't in line with discussions that had taken place. Some of the discrepancies were the size of the overall space had been reduced, the stage location had been moved to the corner, compacted dead soil had been moved to create a berm for plants and trees where plants and trees can't grow, etc. A little disappointing but it can all be worked through.
It was a very productive week. There was a lot of action and in between steps, however, to keep this post from becoming too large, we're going to leave it here until next week. If you'd like to see all the details, Sandy has saved it all in a highlight on Instagram @mrs.colonial, including the incident in the rocks that resulted in her having to administer first aid.
Can you see it yet? Sandy can't wait to see the olive trees get installed. She threw a few into this photo just for fun.
We hope you enjoyed seeing the progress on the new event space coming to Mrs. Colonial.
Also this week . . .
Sandy had someone reach out for help in designing their daughter's bedroom. They found some bedding they loved, and then asked Sandy to give them some ideas for the rest of the room.
If you or someone you know are interested in getting all the details for this beautiful Pink and Green Girls Bedroom, you can use this LINK for all the information including paint colors, links to purchase product, and even an inspiration photo of a bathroom that coordinates beautifully.
Next week should be just as productive. Have a lovely week in your home or garden, and we'll be back next Sunday!
With love from,
Mrs. Colonial and her human, Sandy
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