A Dream Realized

Family finds exactly what they need on 60 acres in Robertson County

By Hollie Deese
Photography by Julia Steele

When Jenna Rummel moved into her new home on 60 acres in Greenbrier last year, it was the fulfillment of a dream they had for a while. Well, it had first been her husband, Jonathan’s, dream, but it quickly became hers too.

“We’ve always wanted acreage. Jonathan always said 60 acres, and I would always say, ‘What about five acres?’” Jenna jokes. “I feel like now I want 60 acres.”

As owner of Chic Artique, a home décor store with new and salvaged items, Jenna had been renting a shop in Hendersonville for their custom furniture builds. But she had always wanted to have the space to do that on her own property.

“It would simplify our lives so much,” she says.

So when the home became available and they were touring the land, they found there was a huge barn that had once held the Robertson County square dance — a party barn. Jonathan knew he could turn that barn into a shop for Jenna to work, and that Jenna could turn the home into something special for them and their two kids: Gracie, 12, and Xander, 19.

That is exactly what they have done. They’ve moved their wood shop out of the rented space and into the party barn — after removing the stage and bringing in their tools. They’ve done some renovations on the home, too, replacing light fixtures and builder-grade doors with salvaged ones like the ones she carries in her shop.

“We’re in the process of making it ours,” she says.

Documenting some of the changes on social media, Jenna got the biggest reaction when she painted the orange hardwood floors in her daughter’s room white — aiming for more visual interest and consistency in the different flooring throughout the house. She’s in the process of changing it to make things flow.

“The man at Sherwin-Williams thought I had lost my mind,” Jenna says. “He said, ‘You can’t do this.’ And I was like, ‘Just sell me some porch paint. I’m going to do it.’ And when I posted that, people just went crazy. They were like, ‘Oh, I would love to do this’ or ‘I’d be too scared.’ The paint gave it sort of a look like it had been added on later, like an attic room that had been finished out, and just gave it a lot more character. The orange was so dated, and the white was such a fun solution to that.”

In renovating the kitchen, Jenna kept the tiled floors and granite countertops but put in all new appliances and changed out the island for a custom furniture piece that is more in line with her style. And she turned the eat-in kitchen space into a cozy seating area.

“That’s been a really fun space for us because the house has no blinds, and you’ve got views every direction,” she says. “And I think that’s probably what we’ve enjoyed most about it. It’s just the porch and the connection to nature.”

Among all of their home renovations, in March they expanded the store, too, building out the space next to Chic Artique for Chic Boutique — to add fashion, jewelry and gifts to her home décor business.

“We always wanted to expand next door and we always wanted our shop on our property, and both opportunities came at the same time,” she says. “When it’s something you want for a really long time, you’ve got to take the opportunity.”

By the end of the year she hopes to have renovated the study in the home, as well as updated all of the bathrooms with furniture Jonathan is building.

“We’ve got it all planned out,” she says.

Also being planned is a series of small homes built by the creek that runs through the property, which she and her family have enjoyed exploring together — without their phones.

“We have this fabulous creek down the hill from our property, but we can’t see it from the house. So we want to build cottages for our family and friends to come in and for us to enjoy on the weekend rather than driving two hours away. So that is huge — to make the creek accessible to everyday living,” she says.