In 1993, we bought BonnyMeade. At that time, the historic mansion was still standing like a sentinel on the hill. In 1998, some young people set fire to the mansion and it burned from 1:00 a.m. till 8:00 a.m. It was like we had lost part of the family. We left the brick walls standing for 2 or 3 years until they started to deteriorate and become a hazard to anyone walking close to the structure. Eventually, we had someone knock down the walls but left the brick and foundation around and inside the structure that remained. Year by year, the historic bricks were cleaned of the old mortar and stacked till we had accumulated around 15,000. The original 1810 foundation still remained.

One day while looking at the remaining structure (foundation only) we got the idea – wouldn’t it make a beautiful pavilion for people to use. 

This has been a labor of love. Saving and rebuilding the log “Cabin” that was set to burn in a day or two, into a quaint unique log “Cabin” for folks to visit and vacation in. And although the original BonnyMeade Plantation home was gone, the original foundation, with hand chiseled stones made around 1810, still remains at the same location without one stone being moved as again a Sentinel for the public to see and enjoy.

The original circa 1810 bricks were used to brick the back portion of the log “Cabin” as well as the brick columns for the Pavilion. We know these bricks were made only a few hundred feet from the old historic Mansion because we found the kiln and the soot field where they had fired them just below the hill of the original Mansion. The old historic bricks were laid as walkways between the “Cabin” and “Cottage” to the Pavilion for the brides to travel going from one life to another with the person they have chosen to live the rest of their lives with.