Field Trip: The Martyn House

Today Betty and I travelled south to Ellijay to assist our friend JoAnn Antonelli in an art project at her bed and breakfast the Martyn House. It's way more than a B and B though; its a farm, a nature sanctuary, an art and event space and a mountain paradise. The 130 year old farmhouse anchors a property with seemingly endless vistas of varied landscapes rich in design.


The property sings with spring. Flowering fruit trees, ample beds of violets and daffodils, emerging lily of the valley, hyacinth, and hellebores dot the landscape which rolls in and out of open space and into wooded areas where her indian gypsy faire tents await guests.

There are three smaller tents that serve as guest rooms nestled in the woods overlooking the main field, and there is one very large tent for events like the wonderful farm to table dinners they have. The little guest tents sleep two, and each have their own distinctive personality.

JoAnn has outfitted the tents with vintage linens and restored and refinished bathroom fixtures that she designed. The ceilings of the tents sparkle with tiny mirrors inside of golden stars. The tents have screened windows and ceiling fans as well as heaters making them a comfortable respite in all seasons.


A beautiful blossoming fruit tree beyond the porch was breathtaking against the sky.


A chair pair wait to be filled....maybe after the art project is completed.


The art project was to decorate 2 very orange porta-pottys brought in for the Martyn House's big tent events. We used Krylon Fusion paint which is for plastic. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how well and quickly it covered. We each did our own designs and they integrated nicely.


The wise owl advised me to take a break inside the big event tent when the spray paint started to get to me. ( Note to self: next time, bring a filter mask.)


Maya (pictured here) and Grace were relaxing inside the big tent.


JoAnn's john had a tie dye effect and was a great blend with the original orange color. Her designs reminded me of a hawaiian shirt, or maybe an island bar.


Naturally, my design had a bird and sky above foliage theme. We used various branches of leaves as stencils to create the patterns. Layering lots of colors gave the paintings depth and richness.


Betty used an ornate stencil and incorporated her signature pottery designs into the final.


Cheerful daffodils waved in approval.


When we finished we took a golf cart ride to the pond, looked at the new fish and tadpoles and watched the dogs swim and rough house. JoAnn pointed out clusters of jelly like blobs containing frog eggs. We took a tour into the forest to see a stick arch JoAnn made for couples to be married under and immediately Betty and I wanted to make one too....which we will in the next week or so. JoAnn bid us good-bye from her garden and we headed north in the old grey truck.

It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, good friends, sweet fresh spring beauty and inspired and dreaming of ways to develop Chickory over the next years. Loved it.