Hello and welcome to The Keeper of the Inn! I'm the innkeeper of Tanglewood Farm Bed and Breakfast in Southern Pines, North Carolina. My mother and I own a beautiful 10 acre horse farm in the middle of horse-centric Southern Pines, complete with 2 horse stables and a 3-apartment building that has been converted into a bed and breakfast.
We originally hail from Wisconsin (Go Pack Go!) where my mom owned a large riding center for many years. But the cold finally broke us, and we decided to head south to sunnier skies! Southern Pines is a mecca for 3-day eventing, which is the equestrian discipline that we have been competing in ever since I was a child. With so many great upper-level riders and trainers in this area, and the Carolina Horse Park just 20 minutes away, the opportunities are endless!
My educational background was in accounting and finance. I graduated from Boston University and moved to Milwaukee, WI to pursue my accounting career. Within my first year in the "real world", I discovered the corporate world was not my cup of tea, although I stuck with it for about 10 more years, eventually obtaining my CPA license and going on to be a senior investment accounting specialist at an insurance company and later a manager of accounting in real estate development.
I got married in 2011, and we headed to Florida with dreams of never seeing snow or ice again;) During our move south, we stopped in Southern Pines to visit my mother who was renting a hunt box on a horse farm while checking out the area for a potential move. My husband and I were drawn to Southern Pines...me for the horses, him for the quaint downtown with the wonderful restaurants and atmosphere. A year later we were back, this time house and farm shopping with my mom. Goodbye Florida, Hello Southern Pines!
Tanglewood Farm had attracted my interest from the moment I saw the for-sale listing. I had been looking at listings with an eye for income-generating potential and Tanglewood had that written all over it! It has been on the market for quite a while and would take a certain type of buyer. It had a lot going on! 2 barns, one main residence, and at the time 6 apartments! And while all of this was already set up for income production, the thought of being a landlord to 6 separate apartments did not sound that appealing to me, nor to my mother who would be sharing her home with all of these long term tenants!
The suggestion of a bed and breakfast had been brought up over our discussions of different property possibilities and that idea seemed to keep coming back to us. Finally, and after much debate, we decided that Tanglewood was the ONE and the papers were signed! Meanwhile, I had given notice at my job in Florida and in the winter/spring of 2012 we headed north, up to the land of the Pines!
We set to work immediately renovating the 3-apartment building, which would eventually become the Tanglewood Farm B&B guest suites. I'll be going into more detail about the renovations in my upcoming post, "The Making of Tanglewood Farm B&B", but needless to say, there were days on end when I wouldn't see a single person outside of my mom and husband, while I scraped away at layers of wallpaper, old paint, oddly placed lattice board, and musty carpeting.
Finally, the day came to open up shop! We went into this business somewhat blindly and really had no idea what was in store. We just closed our eyes, opened our doors, and prayed for the best! And 6 years later, we are still going strong constantly working on improvements and enjoying our wonderful guests, many of whom we have come to call friends throughout their repeated visits to our farm.
Finding my way through this new business venture and new life haven't been without their challenges, but anytime day to day life gets me stressed, I picture myself back in a business suit, sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer screen on the 13th floor of a downtown high rise, and I am able to take a sigh of relief and soak in this beautiful place that my mother and I have created...chickens peering into my office french door windows; my horse, Rocky, frolicking in my backyard with his buddy, Clifford; my children playing in our yard next to their feathered friends, and I am grateful for all that Southern Pines and Tanglewood Farm have given to us.
Thanks for reading! Check out the items below on my weekly "I Need These In My Life" list
I NEED THESE IN MY LIFE! HOW CUTE ARE THESE??
my weekly must-have list for all things cute and farm-y;-)
I'm always on the lookout for cute aprons and other farm-ish household goods. Here are a few things I don't think I'm going to be able to live without ;)
Dala Horse Apron - I have a bit of an apron obsession! You can never have too many, and who wants a plain Jane boring white one when you can have something as cute as this??
Dala Horse Oven Mitts - and OF COURSE, you need the oven mitts to match! I go through oven mitts like crazy, so it's always good to have a few cute ones on standby...especially ones that coordinate with my apron!
Unicorn Cookie Cutters - ok, so I'm jumping on the unicorn bandwagon...but these are just too cute to resist!!! And for the record, I've always believed in unicorns ;)
We originally hail from Wisconsin (Go Pack Go!) where my mom owned a large riding center for many years. But the cold finally broke us, and we decided to head south to sunnier skies! Southern Pines is a mecca for 3-day eventing, which is the equestrian discipline that we have been competing in ever since I was a child. With so many great upper-level riders and trainers in this area, and the Carolina Horse Park just 20 minutes away, the opportunities are endless!
My educational background was in accounting and finance. I graduated from Boston University and moved to Milwaukee, WI to pursue my accounting career. Within my first year in the "real world", I discovered the corporate world was not my cup of tea, although I stuck with it for about 10 more years, eventually obtaining my CPA license and going on to be a senior investment accounting specialist at an insurance company and later a manager of accounting in real estate development.
I got married in 2011, and we headed to Florida with dreams of never seeing snow or ice again;) During our move south, we stopped in Southern Pines to visit my mother who was renting a hunt box on a horse farm while checking out the area for a potential move. My husband and I were drawn to Southern Pines...me for the horses, him for the quaint downtown with the wonderful restaurants and atmosphere. A year later we were back, this time house and farm shopping with my mom. Goodbye Florida, Hello Southern Pines!
Tanglewood Farm had attracted my interest from the moment I saw the for-sale listing. I had been looking at listings with an eye for income-generating potential and Tanglewood had that written all over it! It has been on the market for quite a while and would take a certain type of buyer. It had a lot going on! 2 barns, one main residence, and at the time 6 apartments! And while all of this was already set up for income production, the thought of being a landlord to 6 separate apartments did not sound that appealing to me, nor to my mother who would be sharing her home with all of these long term tenants!
The suggestion of a bed and breakfast had been brought up over our discussions of different property possibilities and that idea seemed to keep coming back to us. Finally, and after much debate, we decided that Tanglewood was the ONE and the papers were signed! Meanwhile, I had given notice at my job in Florida and in the winter/spring of 2012 we headed north, up to the land of the Pines!
We set to work immediately renovating the 3-apartment building, which would eventually become the Tanglewood Farm B&B guest suites. I'll be going into more detail about the renovations in my upcoming post, "The Making of Tanglewood Farm B&B", but needless to say, there were days on end when I wouldn't see a single person outside of my mom and husband, while I scraped away at layers of wallpaper, old paint, oddly placed lattice board, and musty carpeting.
Finally, the day came to open up shop! We went into this business somewhat blindly and really had no idea what was in store. We just closed our eyes, opened our doors, and prayed for the best! And 6 years later, we are still going strong constantly working on improvements and enjoying our wonderful guests, many of whom we have come to call friends throughout their repeated visits to our farm.
Finding my way through this new business venture and new life haven't been without their challenges, but anytime day to day life gets me stressed, I picture myself back in a business suit, sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer screen on the 13th floor of a downtown high rise, and I am able to take a sigh of relief and soak in this beautiful place that my mother and I have created...chickens peering into my office french door windows; my horse, Rocky, frolicking in my backyard with his buddy, Clifford; my children playing in our yard next to their feathered friends, and I am grateful for all that Southern Pines and Tanglewood Farm have given to us.
Thanks for reading! Check out the items below on my weekly "I Need These In My Life" list
I NEED THESE IN MY LIFE! HOW CUTE ARE THESE??
my weekly must-have list for all things cute and farm-y;-)
I'm always on the lookout for cute aprons and other farm-ish household goods. Here are a few things I don't think I'm going to be able to live without ;)
Dala Horse Apron - I have a bit of an apron obsession! You can never have too many, and who wants a plain Jane boring white one when you can have something as cute as this??
Dala Horse Oven Mitts - and OF COURSE, you need the oven mitts to match! I go through oven mitts like crazy, so it's always good to have a few cute ones on standby...especially ones that coordinate with my apron!
Unicorn Cookie Cutters - ok, so I'm jumping on the unicorn bandwagon...but these are just too cute to resist!!! And for the record, I've always believed in unicorns ;)
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