As we start the New Year, we want to introduce ourselves. We are Joe and Sherry Baker. We grew up close to the farm - Joe in Orleans and Sherry in Bedford. We met in high school at the drive-in movie theater in Orleans many, many years ago! We have lived in Florida for over 20 years and decided during the pandemic to look for some property near family in 2021. Joe happened on French Lick Farms and we made the decision to purchase it! The rest is history!
This week we have started thinking about what we want to accomplish next at the farm. What will be our first project in 2023 at French Lick Farms? If you have visited, you know there are plenty of projects and opportunities on the property. What you might not know is that in October, we purchased the laundromat in Orleans.
Over the past year, we had been using Callie Coulter and her team at Consistent7 to do the laundry for the guest rooms at the farm. With so many back to back rentals over the summer, we just couldn't keep up and flip the laundry and rooms quick enough. Callie and her team really stepped up and did an amazing job keeping up and bending over backwards when we needed them. We learned she had listed the laundromat, so we reached out and had a few conversations to see if it made sense. Of course it did - so we made an offer and a few months later we purchased the facility.
We were so lucky that Callie agreed to stay on staff and continue the operations. She still manages the day-to-day and runs the facility so you will see her smiling face, amazing work ethic, and commitment to customer satisfaction when you stop in. This wouldn't be possible without her!
We will rebrand under the new name: The Laundry Connection!
So needless to say, this purchase has put a tiny slow down on our year end and early 2023 plans at the Farm. We have a few things on our list at the laundromat. Stay turned for some announcements, specials and new services! Once we do those small projects and then we will start back at the farm.
So where do we start in 2023?
We have some infrastructure projects to start with and then on to the upstairs. Our goal is to finish "The Balcony" next and have that ready in the first half of the year. If you have stayed on property, you may not have even know about this space. But if you have and wondered where the stairs in the Double went to, they connect to The Balcony. It's upstairs and will add 2 Bedrooms and a bath: a Master Suite, a second Bedroom and full bath. A few "before" photos:
So while we may have had to slow down a bit...we are ready to pick up our next project in a month or so. We will be excited to show you the after photos in a few months! So for those of you with even bigger groups, this space will help us go from sleeping 10 comfortably to 16 or 17.
If you have ideas for us, we are all ears! Be sure to send your thoughts and suggestions our way on what we should do next!
Happy New Year and here is to a fabulous 2023!
Your hosts @ French Lick Farms
Sherry & Joe