Meet Ron and Susan Volkenburgh | Co-Owner & Fellow Adventurer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ron & Susan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ron & Susan, what do you attribute your success to?
The single most important factor behind our success is the personal connection we try and make with each and every guest who either stays in one of our treehouses, or follows us through social media. In trying to make that personal connection, we spend time getting to know our guests if they want to participate that way, or for those who stay with us and want privacy, we understand and let them explore on their own. For those that follow us through social media, we try and make a personal connection by sharing things about us personally; projects we’re working on, challenges we face in maintaining treehouses and a farm, personal pictures of us working, etc. In addition, we know everyone has personal challenges they’re wrestling, especially after living through the pandemic of 2020, so we try and show everyone who stays with us that little extra love and respect we enjoy for ourselves. We don’t know where someone is coming from or what they might be working through, but we try and provide a destination of healing and peace.

What should our readers know about your business?
As a Nine Buck Two Ventures, LLC property, Savannah’s Meadow is a working 18.33 acre farm with two very popular treehouses we use as a B&B and outdoor wedding venue, where we grow lavender, herbs, and pecan trees. Because our farm is flush with trees and nature, our guests get to enjoy exploring outdoors, while reliving their childhood in a treehouse, complete with heat and air conditioning, hot and cold running water, full kitchen and bath, and in one case a pool and hot tub. Most folks can easily find out more information by visiting www.savannahsmeadow.com or find and follow us on social media. As anyone can imagine, maintaining an outdoor destination such as Savannah’s Meadow is a constant, year-round job and even though our season lasts from April 1 through October 31 each year, regular inspections, maintenance, and repairs keep us working 365 days a year, in addition to readying each destination for guests each day. The challenges of maintaining a destination such as this, as well as ensuring our guests get the experience they are seeking is a full-time job, and also accounts for the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Whether it’s pricing, availability, blocking days off, scheduling, rules and guidelines, etc., all come from our direct experiences with guests and we hope that all lessons learned add to the experience our guests are seeking and few ever detract from it. If you have an adventurous spirit, or are a weekend-explorer, a nature enthusiast, or just curious, all of our efforts year-end round are spent toward sharing what we have with you! We want to provide a destination and experience that feed that curiosity and nourish that spirit, so that you leave feeling refreshed and ready to get back to life-as-usual. We’re a destination where we not only want you to “find yourself in the trees”, but we live it on a daily basis.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Savannah’s Meadow gets many guests from all over the world, so when folks ask what we would suggest doing or where we would suggest eating, we always recommend local hole-in-the-wall establishments that we’ve first tried ourselves. In terms of eating we certainly recommend Charlies Old Fashioned Burgers, Venecia Italian, and Jalapenos TexMex in Farmersville, or Buckey’s in Cadddo Mills for some of the best chicken friend steak you’ll ever have, Of course if folks aren’t looking for food, we like to promote downtime with activities on the farm, but for those staying longer, we like promoting a healthy lifestyle and will point folks to the Chaparral Trail, which starts in Farmersville, just 10-to-15 minutes away. Of course, there are always the assortment of local museums, zoos, and arboretums, as well as a number of “old downtown” shopping experiences, all not more than 45 minutes to an hour away. A great way to stay close and still make a day trip!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We’d like to give a shout-out to all the entrepreneurs that have come before us. Those free-thinkers who chose a less-traveled path, knowing their choice was not a simpler solution, but moved in that direction anyway because it meant testing one’s self, the chance for independence, and self-reliance. For those who modeled a path for us who followed by demonstrating how daily hard-work means dropping into bed at night completely exhausted, but falling asleep knowing our achievement of the day was a win for the choice we made. No birthday celebrations in the break-room, no year-end bonus, no recognition by your boss or team, and certainly no golden pocket watch at retirement; but…as entrepreneurs just like those who came before us, we’re building something much larger and hopefully longer-lasting: a legacy!

Website:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savannahsmeadow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavannahsMeadowLLC
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/savannahs-meadow-celeste
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8a499vSb4c&list=PLIIBXKQ1qFHI4ArJG1cCqiNqYYOa2Fthw

Image Credits
Randy Van Photography