In 1929, my grandfather, Fred Williams Floyd and his brother, Robert Floyd, built a dairy on their family farm. Floyd Dairy, the only dairy in the area, supplied Grade-A raw milk, cream and butter to the citizens of Fairmont up to two and a half miles away. Later he traded his half-ownership in a grocery store in town for full ownership of Floyd Dairy. He and his children ran the dairy until he closed it in 1946. The buildings at the dairy became frozen in time. The woods behind the buildings gradually engulfed them until they were no longer visible from the road, except for the top of the silo peeping over the trees.

As a child, I loved playing at the dairy. Even after the buildings had long outlived their usefulness, I would wander through the trees and underbrush to revisit old memories and to dream about the possibilities of the future for those old buildings.

After retiring in 2013, my husband, Tim and I moved back home to Fairmont and began making these dreams come true. With the help of family and friends we began restoring and repurposing the old barns.

Although my grandfather probably had no idea the barns he built would be used for anything other than livestock, he created a beautiful setting that now will provide the perfect location for celebrations and special occasions. It makes his family proud to know that we have brought a portion of the family farm back to life that my grandpa began 95 years ago.

~ Sharon Floyd Lewis