Drawing out ideas on paper and visualizing them in our minds is how every great project begins. But to get a good idea of how it will be when built, it is important to actually lay things out on the ground. Today, we spent a sunny afternoon measuring out where the walls for the house will go, driving stakes into the ground and 'walking' through the building. As expected there were adjustments and changes made. Now, it is back to the drawing board to tweak the plans yet again. Tomorrow we'll pull up some of the stakes and then drive them home in a new place and see how the new ideas work at full size.

All dreams have a beginning. The Hazelnut Inn actually began many years ago. Dan and Janis Sawatzky came to the tiny village of Yarrow in 2003. They purchased a small acreage and built a dream shop for their business, the Imagination Corporation. The site was spectacular, in the centre of town and yet surrounded by farmland on three sides. To the south were open fields and the spectacular view of Vedder Mountain towering 3000 feet above. On the east side was a fifteen acre hazelnut orchard which was owned by a man who grew up in the Sawatzky's old farmhouse. He had farmed the land for more than forty years. Unfortunately, a few years ago the hazelnut trees were killed off by a terrible blight and a short time later the owner passed away. The land was cleared and sold, then subdivided into five large parcels. Peter and Hailey Sawatzky purchased the lot adjacent to the senior Sawatzky's land. Here they would build their own dream project. It would be an inn like no other along with a new home to raise their growing family.

Hello! My name is Peter. My wife Hailey and I, along with my sister Becké and the rest of our family, are building the Hazelnut Inn. We started dreaming about a magical boutique hotel many years ago…

Hailey and I spent our honeymoon in Europe and we had the opportunity to stay in a little castle tower. It was a magical experience and it left us wanting to share that feeling with others.

Of course, we didn’t have a castle (they are rather scarce here in Canada) but we happen to design and build theme parks in our ‘real lives.’ And Hailey suggested we build one of our own.

It was a crazy idea but we started dreaming, and when a little piece of the old hazelnut farm next door was put up for sale, we jumped at the chance to build what would become the Hazelnut Inn. We sold our home and started planning our magical boutique hotel in earnest.

So far it has taken us more than six years to build our dream hotel. Every part has been carefully thought out and lovingly hand-crafted by our family and our Imagination Corporation team.

The North Star Suite is now open and we are working hard to finish both the Under Hill Suite and the Copper Crown Suite. We hope you’ll come and stay with us soon!