About Us
Take a breather at Fresh Air Farm, where you can create unique events that match your vision and dreams. Fresh Air Farm offers endless possibilities to showcase your wedding, corporate event, rehearsal or retreat that reflects your style, whether classic elegance, rustic romantic, eclectic modern or homemade vintage. It is the ideal space for the imaginative client. A creative stylist, more than a decade of experience and a genuine love for sharing this special venue envelope you and your guests at Fresh Air Farm. Let our professional and friendly staff help you with event recommendations and logistics. We strive to provide you with planning details that ensure your special event exceeds your expectations.
Fresh Air Farm is an indoor-outdoor event venue that features a lovingly restored, 100-year-old barn that is perched on a picturesque farm of enchanting, rolling hills. It boasts a handcrafted wood and iron bridge spanning a three-acre, spring-fed pond. A lean-to that’s original to the farm houses an outdoor bar and quaint lounge area located across a custom courtyard with twinkling cafe string lights. A 1961 Airstream nestled nearby has been renovated into a relaxing vintage bridal suite. Exquisite gardens of native plants and two vintage trucks dot the property, as well. All of these amenities create the perfect backdrop while encompassing Midwest charm at its finest.
The outdoors carries the scent of freshly cut grass mixed with blooming flowers of the season, and the hint of a smoky bonfire creates a wondrous ambiance. The indoors smells of a promised buffet laden with savory comfort foods made from scratch, locally grown and preservative-free, while being creatively presented and satisfying to all. An ombré of sky to countryside invites special ambiance to first dances, music and celebration.
About Our Brand
Our History
Every barn has a unique story to tell, and this is Fresh Air Farm’s story.
My name is Renee McDougal and I live with my husband, Dan, on the property. When we purchased this farm in 1990, located on the property was a 100-year-old, white, gambrel-style barn. The first time I entered through the wide doorway, the sweet smell of hay hit me and took me right back to the warm memories of my childhood and being back on my great-grandfather’s farm. There was more to this barn, though. There was something different — it wasn’t just a barn.
History has documented a vast array of activities that have taken place on these grounds. The small barn to the front of the property housed the caretakers and their children in the farm’s early days. To this day, the wallpaper used to decorate the quarters is still visible on the walls. In the main barn, through years of whitewashing, the names of the family horses that once preceded us on the property definitely left their mark. I could tell it the day I first stepped foot on this farm; life had happened here.
And as with any farm, the barn is at the heart. Historically a place to dance, pray, play and even court, barns were as essential to most people as the houses they lived in. The same is true with our family, too — sharing the barn with our family and friends became an annual tradition. In fact, the name Fresh Air Farm was coined by my sister-in-law while standing atop the rolling hills. She couldn’t imagine a more breathtaking view anywhere else.
Fresh Air Farm has been the chosen spot for more than a decade’s worth of events. Realizing the meaning this farm has for many people, we decided to share Fresh Air Farm with other families. By restoring the barn, we feel that we have helped preserve a part of Midwest heritage. We take pride in making this a family-owned and -operated business. Keeping in tradition with farm families of the past, we are happy to be able to bring families and friends together to celebrate and share the most important events of their lives.
