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This is the audio version of my weekly newsletter, Experiential Hospitality, where I share stories and insights to help you craft unforgettable spaces and experiences through design & hospitality.
The a thousand dollars farmhouse
that almost got bulldozed.
Remember when I told you my
friend Benny bought this old
house for a thousand dollars?
Well, last week he moved it to
his property and it's about to
become one of the most unique farm
hospitality destinations in Mexico.
Benny lives in a Mennonite colony
in rural Chihuahua, Mexico.
The area is a desert, both in rainfall.
They get less than six inches a year.
And in beauty of the built environment,
but Benny's Place is an oasis.
He and his family carved out a lush
garden on the back part of their lot
lined by huge trees They wisely planted
years ago when they first moved there.
It feels a world apart
from its surroundings.
When Benny happened to hear me speak
on farm hospitality at an event this
spring, something clicked within weeks.
He resigned from his fundraising job,
launched a guided tour service for
the local area, and started a search.
He wanted something unique for his
garden, some way to harness the
beauty and build a livelihood from it.
One afternoon, not long after
that, Benny spotted a crumbling old
farmhouse a few miles from his home.
This was one of the very first
houses built in the colony
over a hundred years ago.
Remarkably, the wood was still in
good shape, thanks to the parched
climate, but the owner was just
days away from tearing it down.
He'd held off while the elderly
couple who'd lived there, their
whole lives were still alive.
They just passed and he was ready to
clear it for more commercial farming.
The house was supposed to have been
demolished weeks earlier, but the
bulldozer broke down and delayed the job.
Can I take it off your hands for you?
Benny asked for a thousand dollars.
The deal was done.
Funny story.
A few days later, the owner
had second thoughts and asked
for another a thousand dollars.
Benny paid it to him, but this
time they signed another contract
stating that this was the final and
he could never ask for more money.
while my family was in Mexico last
week for another missions trip.
Cruz moved the house several miles and
set it down in Benny's Garden for less
than the price of a junky used car.
Penny now owns a piece of history
that will be worth a hundred times
that when he's through with it
and he saved a piece of history.
It now rests on a fresh foundation,
the original mud bricks that lined
the inside of the exterior walls to.
Used as insulation have been
carefully stacked aside soon to line
an underground cellar steps away
from the farmhouse that will store
the garden's harvest for guests.
Just imagine the wonder they'll feel.
A couple months ago I helped Benny sketch
up a site plan for the farm experience.
This trip we walked through the floor
plan together, dreaming up and laying out
the juiciest little moments and details
that will welcome guests one day soon.
Benny held off documenting the
journey to avoid the chance of any
third thoughts from the old owner.
But now that it's safely on his
land, he'll be sharing updates at
the link in the newsletter, and we
plan to make a YouTube video out
of the whole thing once it's done.
So make sure you're subscribed.
That old farmhouse was
days from the dozer.
To most just scrap wood and mud.
But Benny saw something else,
and most importantly, he had
the courage to do something.
So here's the lesson.
Beauty rarely begins perfect.
It begins when someone has
eyes to see and faith to act.
Start where you are.
Use what you have, share it with others.
That's how ordinary things, an
old farmhouse, a garden, even a
barren patch of land in the middle
of nowhere become extraordinary.
So go make your corner
of the world an oasis.