Dan Morgan, who owns Morgan Farm Stay with his
wife Annette, kindly wrote this post about their reasons for
starting a farm stay, and about the steps they took to make their
business what it is today. It's an especially interesting read for
anyone thinking of starting a farm stay themselves.
Morgan Farm Stay In 2005, Dan and Annette Morgan renovated and
updated with "English Upgrades" a 144 year old farmhouse on 10
lovely acres in Ashland Ohio. The home is now used primarily as a
"Farm Stay" self catering vacation rental property, not to be
confused with Bed and Breakfast. Morgan Farm Stay has steadily
increased business each year since it opened its barn doors for
this unique business in 2008. We wanted to return to Ohio, from 10
years in NY to a more relaxed "country living" pace. The house had
been Amish for over 20 years so the plumbing, electrical, septic
and roof were all in need of replacement (English Upgrades) After a
year of this type of work the Morgans determined that they needed
to be closer to a major metropolitan area for both their lines of
work, Nursing and Commercial Photography. The option of selling the
farm house in the down economy, after investing in all the
upgrades, was a very dismal one. After a great deal of research
online and inspiration from travels to Europe, we decided to make
the property into a Farm Stay in 2008. The concept is still very
new in the United States, however it has been implemented in
Europe, Australia and New Zealand for many years, providing weary
travelers a clean comfortable rest, in an extra room of an old farm
house.
In the first year we spent living in the agricultural community
of rural Ashland County we observed many disturbing things that
tarnished our "country living" experience. Wanton urban sprawl was
tearing up beautiful farmland and farmers were struggling to make a
decent living. Learning more about modern industrial farming
practices, designed for larger production at lower cost to the
farmer is a model we are all paying for with our health. Fresh
healthy food from small family farmers has been replaced by overly
processed foods manufactured by chemical companies, the same
companies that are providing synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
to these large scale farming operations, who have all but replaced
the small family farmer.
Our mission at Morgan Farm Stay has been to provide a clean
comfortable place for a quiet vacation, in a setting that inspires
thoughts about how the old family farm needs to be preserved for
many reasons. Our old farm house is just one of many, many old
farmhouses that dot the countrysides across America, remnants of
what used to be. The best thing we could offer the community around
us was an example of how new life can come to an old farm, both
conscientiously and economically. Several considerations needed to
be addressed in order to consider this small business venture.
Marketing, insurance, home furnishings, housekeeping and grounds
maintenance, accounting and legal issues. There are several online
marketing tools available to list your property. Good writing and
photography skills help. Business cards, promotional handouts and
social networking sites also help with Marketing. An additional
insurance policy was added to existing homeowners policy, our agent
was easy to work with. It is important to tell the agent exactly
what you are doing and how often you will be at the home
yourself.
The home needed to be thoughtfully decorated and furnished with
practicality, comfort and a little whimsy. What would we want in a
rental home if we were the guests. Quality furniture and fully
equipped kitchen and bath with modern appliances will bring the
best rental rates. All towels and other linens should also be
provided. The home and grounds need to be kept impeccably groomed
and cleaned. Spider webs, dust and dirty floors will not make
happy, return customers. From an accounting standpoint the whole
operation, expense and income has to be treated as a business with
itʼs own schedule C at year end. Applicable income taxes need to be
paid to the city county and state as well as federal
authorities.
All of the above considerations are nothing that should
intimidate anyone from starting this sort of business. There are
professionals in these areas that are happy to help. This business
model requires a lot of hard work, but not as much work as a bed
and breakfast. We recommend it to anyone!
Dan Morgan wrote the text and provided photographs for this
post. For more of Dan's photography, see
http://www.aboutdanmorgan.com/.