Essay Contest

I thought I'd write about several other contests happening around the state and country...there are quite a few, and I do have some favorites! Here's the list, in no particular order:

Blue Hill Inn, Maine

Street view of The Blue Hill Inn

www.winthebluehillinn.com

I love this place! Owner Sarah has taken time to get an online contest done right...the official rules are clear and she obviously has the right intention. Good Luck to her and the team at The Blue Hill Inn! The next owner of this property will be lucky indeed. The current owner also had the very good fortune of a front row seat to the most talked about contest lately, The Center Lovell Inn - which was featured on everything from the NBC Nightly News, to the Today Show. Clearly she has learned from their small mistakes. This is an inn ready to move into the future while embracing it's past. Just lovely! $150 and 200 words.

Rock Spring Farm

www.rockspringfarm.org

View of the main house at Rock Spring Farm

Imagine life on a tranquil 35 acre farm on the Rappahannock River in Virginia...now imagine that life could be yours! This essay contest giveaway property is my favorite of all those that are not necessarily income-generating properties, though even here - there is a rental cottage. About an hour from Williamsburg, this farm is rural - but isn't that ideal for horses, or goat, or llama or alpacas? A farm sancuary? I imagine the possibilities here are pretty broad, especially if you can work from home, or make your living with the animals. This also has the perk of the house being built in this century! $200 and 1,000 words gives you ample room to woo the judges.

The Claiborne House B&B http://winclaibornehouse.blogspot.com

Another inn located in beautiful Virginia, this one down in the Southwest corner, near the birthplace of country music. This B&B has already seen one family raised here, it's time for a new one! Five rooms is the perfect size to manage for one person or a couple, living and working from home. It's a great life, and it can be yours for 200 words and $150.

Finally,  our own 

High Meadows Vineyard Inn

www.highmeadows.com

Thanks to Meredith Sledge for this pretty spring photo! 

We have just over 13 acres in the cute Town of Scottsville, plenty of room to make this the farm of your dreams, with meadows and old pastures, a pond, a stream, and pretty woods. The vineyard is not currently in production, but the infrastructure is all here and ready for whatever you want to do. Our inn gets rave reviews, and has been an award winning restaurant as well...will you continue that tradition? We are rural enough for privacy and country life, but less than 20 minutes away is Monticello, a World Heritage Site and Charlottesville, consistently ranked as one of the most desirable small cities in the US to visit or to live in. The property is close to Dave Matthews' Blenheim vineyards & winery, First Colony winery, Thistle Gate, and over 30 others. Breweries, cideries, great restaurants, and great swimming holes are all within a half hour, or a half mile! Washington DC is 3 hours north, and accounts for the vast majority of our visitors, and is an easy getaway when we are craving the Smithsonian. We truly have the best of everything here, and we are so happy to be giving a chance to someone else to make their dreams come true. Our contest details will be announced August 17th, just one week away - it will be $150 to enter, and you've got 300 words to tell your story. Stay tuned and help us spread the word!

Making lemonade out of lemons!

First of all, let me start by saying I LOVE LEMONS. A slice of lemon with salt makes my lips pucker just thinking about it, and plain water with a squeeze of juice is so refreshing! Baked, preserved, sweet or sour, lemon curd, lemon pie, lemon pickles...and yes, even lemonade - truly I love lemons, so this silly saying always makes me laugh, because if you start  with something you like, then of course the outcome of any effort to improve on it is probably going to be great!  It's appropriate then to describe the past few months here at High Meadows, and the decisions we have made regarding our stewardship here. It's been emotional, to say the least.

 The support and love from friends, guests, family and pretty much everyone has been unending, eyeopening, and truly life changing. I am going to try to bring everyone up to date without too much backstory or digression...

One of the first things that most of our friends and family have been wondering is 'What is the status of the inn?' Many of you donated and pledged support towards a rather large balloon payment on the property mortgage that was looming, and potentially going to stand in the way of our future here. I was humbled by the support of so many people! We love what we have been doing here at High Meadows, and were grateful when things worked out for us to continue living and working at the Inn. However, despite what seemed to be the answer to our prayers only months prior, we were faced with other, more personal challenges...and after several weeks of discussion, the decision was made to pass on High Meadows to her next owner.

I won't lie - it was an incredibly difficult decision to make, and there are small moments when I question it...like a few weeks ago, when 4 sisters staying with us hugged us goodbye and thanked us so sincerely for making their getaway so special, and I wondered if this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing - making people happy, because it makes up happy in return!  Those moments of questioning have been welcome - because it is with a very clear heart that I look forward to whatever is next in my family's journey. They are also welcome, because it's clear that we have made something wonderful happen here, built on the love of those who lived here before us - and it is time to pass it to another someone to love the inn, the property, the house - and to make it their own.

As anyone who knows me, or who has been to High Meadows will tell you, I don't do ANYTHING the 'right' way. If it's quirky or strange, or wildly wonderful - I will try it! So why then just put the inn 'on the market' up for sale? Purchasing an inn like High Meadows would be expensive - well out of the financial reach of lots of people who might really love her, and be really good at this innkeeping thing. Frankly, it was financially out of our reach when we came here...but we were lucky to start with a lease, and then lots of creative financing. Yet practically, we have a mortgage on the property to pay off, and family expenses - there is certainly a 'number' that we need to achieve if we sold the inn in the traditional way. So imagine my joy at reading about an ESSAY CONTEST being run in Maine to pass on another historic inn, the Center Lovell Inn! The current owner actually won the inn 22 years ago in an essay contest, and was passing it along again the same way.The new owners will be opening soon, and the previous is happily retiring...what a joy for all involved! I loved reading about it several months ago, and now, presented with my opportunity to find someone to love High Meadows - I find this solution to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.
So an essay of 300 words or less, on a topic such as 'Why I'd love to own High Meadows Inn' or 'The Future of High Meadows with Me', a potential innkeeper/farmer/homesteader (let's face it - we have over 13 acres here plus the house...the property can be almost anything!) will send in an entry fee of somewhere around $125-200 (we haven't ironed out all of the details yet) and their essay...and to the best/most creative essay - the prize will be High Meadows! With enough entries (we are hoping for around 5,800)our family will be able to turn over the property and the business free and clear to the winner...who takes over as the next owner for the price of their entry and a few hours' writing time. What better way to set the next future innkeeper up for success! In addition, I get to put High Meadows into the hands and heart of someone who will love her. Obviously, there will be some tax,training, and transfer issues for those of us involved - but we believe it's nothing that a successful, growing business and gorgeous property like High Meadows can't handle for the next owner!

We are so excited! Details will follow soon...we are building an online entry form, and working out the official rules. We are working on a marketing calendar to get the word out - this can only work if we get enough people who want to try their hand at a creative essay! The contest is slated to begin around August 17th, and run through November 30. I will need time to read all of the essays, narrow them down, then send the finalists to the judges - 3 people not connected to the inn, but whose opinions I value - who will make the final decision of the winner. We will call the winner on Christmas morning - what a gift this will be to the future innkeepers of High Meadows! So...wish us well, and keep an eye out for contest updates. The next few weeks will be somewhat quiet as we work behind the scenes to get the website in good working order, (though we'll be able to accept entries through the mail as well) then we are looking forward to a busy fall of blogging, press releases, community support, and finally of reading about the hopes and dreams of those wanting to be the future of High Meadows Inn!

Be happy for us, be excited for the future owners of High Meadows, and if you think you know someone who would be a perfect fit for our little bit of heaven up here, pass this along! Follow us on Facebook, and check back around August 17th at www.highmeadows.com for online entry information.

We have truly loved every minute of our time here - and can't wait to meet the next owner!
Cynthia, Nancy, Francis & Sophia