Afton residents John and Judy Hinman are giving a local fixture new life.
The Hinmans purchased The Silo, a longtime Greene restaurant destroyed in a November 2021 fire, with plans to repurpose the 100-acre property into an event and camping destination.
“We were planning on doing some kind of cabins or an Air BnB thing, and we were going to do it near our home and it didn’t work out,” Judy said. “We were riding around, looking at other properties and thinking where we might want to do that, and all of a sudden, it occurred to me to look at The Silo. We drove up and said, ‘This is perfect and exactly what we need.’ We called (former owner) Gary Kurz and he said our timing was perfect. I quick wrote up a business plan of what we wanted to do with it, and we met and he liked our plan.”
“Years ago, my family started doing an event center and we built a pond and a pavilion and it was always my mom’s dream, to have a campground, then we kind of expanded on that with her and decided to do cabins,” John said. “We were looking to do glamping and Air BnB and Vrbo and that sort of thing, and The Silo just seemed perfect, because it had such a rich history and is such an important part of our area. It was (Kurz’s) legacy, and he really wanted to keep something going there. We’re completely honoring The Silo, and the name is The Silo Retreat.”
The Hinmans said limited bookings will be available around July 4, with offerings expanding through late summer and fall.
“The carriage house survived (the fire), and that’s still there and has three rooms upstairs and we are remodeling downstairs,” Judy said. “We’re adding in a kitchen, bathroom, dining room and making a common area so, if people rent it out, it’s more like an Air BnB.
“Eventually, we would like to build a big building or pavilion to have events in, but for now we’re purchasing a tent to still have events and we are in negotiations with a company to get some glamping tents,” she continued. “More toward fall, we will be building cabins, so after July 4, we will have the carriage house available for people to rent, and all the beautiful gardens are there. We would love to have a few weddings there, but we are happy with reunions, birthday parties and all that kind of stuff. (We hope) to continue to build it up. It’ll be slow, and all this is expensive, but, piece by piece, we’ll be adding cabins and pavilions and activity areas.”
“We have two trout streams and a pond on the property, so people staying there will be able to fish,” John said. “And dances, proms, whatever anybody wants to use it for. The carriage house will be available year-round for anyone that wants to stay there or walk the trails we’re putting in — cross-country skiers and snow-mobilers will certainly be welcome to stay throughout the winter — and, as far as the summer goes, it’s mainly for families that want to come on vacation … and it gives local people a place to stay.
“The hottest thing right now is glamping,” he continued. “When you go, set up a tent and all the pots and pans and all the stuff to go camping, it’s more work than work; now, we’re providing everything so all you have to do is show up with clothes and food and everything you need is there, and I think that’s the attraction. And most of the time, when you go camping, you don’t have a nice bed with sheets and a comforter. We will also offer a pop-up tent, so you can sleep on the ground if you really want to do that.”
Such venue versatility, the Hinmans said, will hopefully foster “a mix” of customers.
“We’re looking to do things much different than other venues around us,” John said. “One of the areas we’d like to attract is families from the All-Star Village. We are 35 minutes from there and 15 minutes from Animal Adventure. I counted the other day, and we have 165 paved parking (spots), so there’s plenty of parking for large events; it’s not like pulling out into a dirt field, and one of our goals is to be ADA accessible. And we are planning on installing two electric car chargers; we drive electric cars and that’s something we want to offer, because there’s nothing for electric cars from 206 to Greene.”
The Hinmans said people are keen to see The Silo Retreat come to fruition, and appreciative of their efforts to preserve its legacy.
“We’re keeping the signage and just changing it from The Silo Restaurant to The Silo Retreat,” Judy said. “It was a big deal to us to maintain the name and use it somehow, even though we’re repurposing it, and we expected that would benefit us, as well … but we were not expecting this kind of response. It’s been crazy. People are so excited, everywhere we go.”
“We’ve had thousands of responses from people asking to stay or that want to come visit,” John said. “Several people every day drive up to watch us work and see what’s going on and reminisce. Several companies have wanted to get involved somehow … and we have rooms reserved in December, so we’re already getting bookings.”
For more information, find “The Silo Retreat” on Facebook or call 607-343-0533.