History Of Hobby House
The inspiration for Hobby House Retreat came to me in September 2009 while I was returning home from a weekend of scrapbooking held at a lodge. I had a great time with the other 11 ladies I went with while crafting and laughing the weekend away. This retreat was so much more enjoyable than my usual scrapbooking weekends for several reasons. The first was that it was a smaller group and we split up the meal planning and preparation between ourselves. This enabled us to enjoy each other's recipes and eat on our own schedule. At other retreats I had gone to if you did not eat at the specified meal time you didn't eat. Also at the lodge we did not have to go to different buildings to eat or sleep - everything was right there.
We were able to take our own table to work at so we had plenty of room to put our stuff around us and we weren't stuck in a corner unable to leave our seat without bothering other people.The cabin did have some downsides compared to other retreats. Upon arriving we had to move the couches and other furniture in the room to make an area to set up the tables we had brought. The lighting was not meant for crafters so we also brought our own light source. The beds were nice but you had to bring all of your own linens. So packing to go to the lodge was a huge project - and my van was FULL.
After experiencing this different get-away style enjoying the "homey feel" I thought it would be great to create a retreat that combined the best of both worlds. I made a mental list during my drive home from the lodge. I imagined how great it would be to go to a facility and have everything set up and waiting for you to begin your get-away. No need to move furniture, haul your table, linens or lights. No crawling under tables to avoid disturbing your neighbor or climbing onto the top bunk quietly so you don't wake anyone. No traipsing in the snow to get to the dining hall or back to your cabin. No more missed meals because you stayed up most of the night and chose not to wake up at 8 AM for breakfast. My dream facility would have everything a crafter could ever need or want. A fully equipped kitchen so you don't have to haul pots, pans, crock pots and more to make your meals. Wow the thoughts and ideas just kept coming. When I got home I told my husband Curt my grand plan. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy and nothing would come of this dream. But he should have known better - I am a very determined and stubborn person and this really seemed like an amazing idea.
Not more than a week or so later we looked at the first house that we felt would fulfill our needs for this huge project. Everyone we talked to said it sounded like a great idea. But how do you make it happen? We were dreaming and hoping that we could find a way to make this a reality.
In November I went to the annual scrapbook retreat I had been going to for a couple of years. This time my friend Susan was flying in from Texas and Amanda was coming in from Ohio to enjoy the weekend with me. While Susan was in I discussed my idea with her. She loved the idea and thought she would be interested in becoming my business partner. I took her to the "perfect house" and she thought it was good. So we made an offer on the house - but the owner refused.
Knowing that we wanted to make this a reality we continued to look at houses and created a plan to make it come true. While researching online in Texas, Susan came across a huge house with 4.5 acres located in Middletown PA. Our agent took Curt and I to look at the house. I personally did not think I would like the house from the listing pictures, but Curt really wanted to check it out. Boy was I wrong - the house was perfect for my plans.
Despite encountering set-backs we made my dream a reality on January 29, 2010 when we closed on the house at 845 Locust Grove Road, Middletown, PA. We opened the doors to the Hobby House Retreat on March 6, 2010. What a roller coaster ride this has been! Since then we have had many obstacles to overcome but thanks to Curt and all of his hard work and all of the wonderful ladies I have met through HHR we continue to grow and flourish.
