Great Big Tracts of Land, or How I Bought a Castle

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When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, GWJ, the strongest castle in all of England Goodjerdom.

For anyone who doesn't read the Post a Picture of Your Silly Purchase of the Month thread, I bought a castle.

Yes, an actual castle.

Yes, I'm likely certifiably insane.

We haven't closed yet, so technically there's the possibility of this falling through, but we've got a legally binding purchase agreement and have passed most of the primary hurdles already.

Anyway, the castle is actually a working inn, and we'll be continuing it's operations as such. There will be a standing invitation for all GWJers, including room discount and first round in the pub on me. I'll have more details on that once I'm in full control about a month from now. (Read that as full control of the castle, or my faculties. Either is applicable at this point.)

Yes, there will be an S&T, in fact a full-fledged shut-the-castle-down-to-all-but-Goodjers con is on the planning board.

For now though, we're in the process of tackling all of the business oriented tasks that we can start on during the transition. One of those is to design new marketing materials, starting with a new logo, etc. I'm putting up a LogoMyWay contest, and will let them have first crack at the graphics design. I've got a feeler out to a GWJer for web assistance. In the meantime, I thought I'd open up the creation of the Tag Line/Slogan to the Goodjer Collective, and tap into all the zany creativity floating around this place. We had a brainstorming session this afternoon and came up with several possibilities, including:

  • Leave the Hassle, Come Stay In Our Castle
  • New Realms of Relaxation
  • The Tranquility of Yesterday, The Getaway of Today
  • A Renaissance in Enjoyment

The first is our favorite so far. What say you all? Any comments on these, or completely new suggestions?

Your input, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Will singing be allowed?

(Also that is pretty crazy! Cool too!)

Nobody expects the Ohioan Inquisition!
[size=6]sorry Grenn[/size]

Also, I've done some google-snooping and the place looks awesome from what the current/previous owners have on their site.

I saw the Name our Puppy post and didn't think I could get much more jealous.

I was wrong.

Make Our Castle Your Home For The Weekend
Don't Let Dragons Ruin Your Travel Plans
We'll Leave The Brazier On For You

Can't wait to come visit! Very cool.

I definitely want to see this in real life. FREAKING AWESOME!

That is amazing.

Ok that's an S&T that you can't really afford to miss...

If you are going to run an inn in the building, be sure to review some expert advice.

You are my new favorite person.

*puts on her thinking-cap/haxxorhat on*

Make sure to write the transfer of the domain into the contract.

Can I ask what State this is in? 'Cause I might want to rent it for the next Rabbitcon. I want details!

I'm a hotel controller. It's a tough business, but if the place was turning a profit during the economic slowdown I'm sure it'll still be fine. If you haven't worked in the hotel business before, feel free to shoot me any questions you may have along the way.

Holy crap I think I read an article awhile ago about the guy who built this. Very cool! Be sure to pick this up for daily surveys of your tracts and castle.

rabbit wrote:

Can I ask what State this is in? 'Cause I might want to rent it for the next Rabbitcon. I want details!

Ohio. If it's the one I found that was mentioned upthread, it's two hours from my house.

Central Ohio? Super close. Sounds like there might be multiple GWJ gatherings in a year now that are possible for me to make it to

AnimeJ wrote:
rabbit wrote:

Can I ask what State this is in? 'Cause I might want to rent it for the next Rabbitcon. I want details!

Ohio. If it's the one I found that was mentioned upthread, it's two hours from my house.

Google-fu.

Yep, that's the one I found.

I don't even think you need a tag line for this place; it's a f*cking castle. What more need be said?

The place looks awesome, I'll be crossing my fingers that everything goes well with closing.

Montalban wrote:

Don't Let Dragons Ruin Your Travel Plans
We'll Leave The Brazier On For You

We LOVE these two! The wife is still laughing about the first one.

peedmyself wrote:

I'm a hotel controller. It's a tough business, but if the place was turning a profit during the economic slowdown I'm sure it'll still be fine. If you haven't worked in the hotel business before, feel free to shoot me any questions you may have along the way.

Sweet, thanks peed.

Grumpicus wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:
rabbit wrote:

Can I ask what State this is in? 'Cause I might want to rent it for the next Rabbitcon. I want details!

Ohio. If it's the one I found that was mentioned upthread, it's two hours from my house.

Google-fu.

Grumpicus and AnimeJ are correct. I wasn't going to link to the existing website, cause frankly it makes my eyes hurt (one of the things we'll work on), but I figured someone would sleuth it out rather quickly

PM on it's way Rabbit, we'd actually thought about you and Rabbitcon as we went into this, in a manner.

Hey! I know that castle! My (ex) girlfriend and I spent a night there back in '96. It was a lot less vine-y back then.

IMAGE(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6105/7016252839_f06bc8ed45_z.jpg)

FeralMonkey wrote:

Hey! I know that castle! My (ex) girlfriend and I spent a night there back in '96. It was a lot less vine-y back then.

IMAGE(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6105/7016252839_f06bc8ed45_z.jpg)

Hah, we probably passed you on the way up or down the drive. My wife and I were there our first time in '96 as well!

So when will you be transitioning into learning to brew mead?

oilypenguin wrote:

So when will you be transitioning into learning to brew mead?

I figured I'd trick Boogle into coming out for RavenCon, then chain him in the Dungeon until he teaches me his mead brewing secrets.

And yes, a full line of Raven's Brew is indeed in planning.

I sense PenguinCon just got a lot more interesting ...

I haven't had cause to visit Ohio, but this may require a trip.

I now have a reasonable reason to give the next time I tell my friends I'm going to Ohio.

Im just saying, if PenCon is in a castle, its gonna be hard for me to say No.

We'll see. We're going to chat about it a bit tomorrow and then details when papers get signed. Judging by the reception of Teneman's castle purchase (what a weird thing to type) and the turnout at pencon last year, we'll probably need the whole place so it's no small problem.

So, details pending and we'll see if we can't work something out.

Oh my.

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