Because I’m asked so often…..this is the tale of the beginnings of Bonnybrooke Farm atop Misty Mtn…
When I was 16 years old, my family and I took a camping and boating vacation, which included Eureka Springs……I never forgot this enchanting little Victorian town, with its winding streets and quaint little shops.!!!!! Years later in my 20’s a girl friend was talking about this town she remembered, and in describing it….I realized it was my tucked away memory of Eureka…!!!! OH…EUREKA…!!!!! (As they say…). I’d found it again…. Well for years, I tried to find a way to live here, momma and I would come down. Looking for a building to rent, open up a little shop…live on site….but it never happened, much to my dismay…
After marrying, the dream had not wained….so, we came to Eureka, stayed at my favorite motel…looking for a property to purchase…….and the owners told us about this place, not listed, but for sale…It took no time to decide…..we bought this beautiful Mtn top acreage with house and couple of out buildings….and a beautiful planting of old fashioned bulbs that showed off in blooming every spring, grape vines…here and there, mimosa trees, and ancient oak trees, huge pine trees…and walnut trees. Work took us away…and we leased the house to renters for years.. During this time, we also bought my favorite motel…!!!! (Favorite, being the theme of Bonnybrooke, yet to be born…)
A few years later, I found myself single again, with a 4year old… We came to Eureka, and operated the motel, then sold it and moved to the house in the country, with the idea of remodeling the little cottage (a canning shack for the previous owner, a big gardener ) next to the house. I didn’t have a huge vision, I wanted to be able to be a stay at home momma and raise my son…that’s it…!!!!! I figured if we could eat, make the house payment and utilities, and I could raise my son….it was golden….!!!!!! (But as you’ll see, the Lord had bigger plans and vision, and BLESSED us abundantly)……So here we go……
We remodeled the little cottage, named it Wildwood Cottage, (a favorite song of mine about a little church in the wild wood)….and because we were only the 3rd of our kind in Eureka…country cottages in the woods…..the other two, graciously sent us their overflow….and with no advertising, we stayed full….there was enough overflow to build another….
Soooooo, the old barn loomed big in my thoughts…!!!! I saw cottage number 2…
It was quite a different looking barn then, with a tumble down lean-to part way around… lots of barn debris, vines etc…. After clearing all that, and building steps to the upstairs, that had been used for storage and at one time, a make shift bunk for Percy, the original builder of our house, it was becoming clear this was going to be a really cute little cottage, with a HUGE view… Now, why they built the barn at the peak of the mountain, where the best view was…. not quite clear on that one….!!!! We knocked out the wall, added a full glass front, built a deck….added a few more niceties (plumbing, electrical , ya know…niceties)….Viola….Barn Rose was born….and the horses below, had to go..!!! ( We had little miniature horses, also known as Falabellas….that roamed the property…). One of those grape vines resurfaced, and have engulfed the little barn again, this time growing across a trellis, and providing a shady spot for our guests, lulling away the hours in their porch swing
Well, once again, by the third year….enough overflow to build a 3rd cottage….but I’d run out of out buildings….so the next one was built in a favorite spot, where we’d cut wood for the fireplace and wood stove…at that time the only heat source in our home.. This cottage was designed around a favorite thing of mine…a solarium….(as all my cottages, they were designed with one thing in mind…a favorite of mine)….After the third cottage was finished, and had
guests, it remained unnamed….nothing seem to fit..!!!! Our guests participated in a name contest…. Each guest would leave a name, or a list of names…but still nothing rang true… One Easter morning, at sunrise, as if tapped on the shoulder, I raised up from my sleep, to see a Glorious sun rise filling the sky with shades of pink..wrapping around the mountain….. My guests that morning were repeats, as many were (and still are), I quickly thought, as I laid back down, oh, I hope the kids are seeing this…. At their departure, the list of names included Morninglory….all one word….then crossed through, and written Morning Glory!!!!! I thought OH….they saw it….AND the name rang true… Morning Glory it is….!!!! And there have been many such Morning sunrises and sunsets viewed from the cottage…..
That was 3 years, a cottage every year…. and still overflow….but I’d up to that point just been building, designing, decorating my little doll houses….(another favorite of mine…haha) and loving on people….and I took pause for a moment, and thought, build more…??? Sounds like a business…. do I want to be in business… I know sounds silly…. but it really hadn’t dawned on me yet… I was having sooooo much fun….I waited a year…. then decided, well, it seems…..YOU ARE in business….OK…. let’s do this thing….. The 5th year, I built 2…
The 4th cottage was dreamt will traveling with a favorite guest of ours, back to their home in the St Louis area…. They treated us to a visit, and tour of their area, before flying us back to our Mtn…. in their plane… In looking through magazines, I put together several different
ideas …the size, 2 story glass front of windows, double deck, winding stairway to loft bedroom….and as was Morning Glory Cottage, It was presented to my builder, on a napkin….!! He’d been here before, he was not daunted….). That cottage was built around an inside porch swing…
After deciding on a shady Mtn side location, my napkin drawing, became Summershade Cottage…
The 5th cottage …Moonflower…was built on the side of the Mtn where the viewing is exceptional of the rising of the full moon….gloriously so…..!!!!! As it begins rising, peaking out from the mountain top….It appears to be a huge orange ball…growing larger and larger….til it pops up in full circle…and seems almost touchable…. With a story and 1/2 of full glass windows, it’s the chosen spot to be on a full moon night…..(full moons….another favorite of mine….!!!!). The front door screen, until it was removed because we added an awning, had teeth marks on it from Hickory, one of our little miniature horses…. He would grab ahold of the screen, and bang it, to get the guests to come out and play…)
When Wildwood Cottage was being remodeled, now named Garden of Eden …. Hickory would go up the deck stairs into the open cottage to visit the builders..!!! While their backs were turned he grabbed one of the beams on a saw horse, not yet in place, and did his grab and bounce it for attention… His teeth marks remain, and while relaxing in the jacuzzi, if you’ll look up by one of the skylights…you’ll see Hickory’s teeth marks on a beam….!!!
My guests ask me often….which one is your favorite…..well, I hope you can see why my answer is, they’re like children, they ALL are my favorites …..
THEY REALLY ARE…..!!!!!
Heart and soul have been poured into each one…..and now after decades, the guests stories and our relationships , experiences, and memories, are many and treasured…. Best of all, I got to be a stay at home momma, raise my son, Share and enjoy every moment of his life…PRICELESS….!!!!!!!
The Lord and Bonnybrooke…..have been good to me….and as I pray….to many…!!!!
I can say honestly, the Lord has truly blessed me with every desire of my heart…and I’m not through dreaming~~~~~~~~~~
BonnyBrooke Cabins 