By JONATHAN WEAVER
The Weston News
JANE LEW, W.Va. — A decade of weddings, special events and fond memories have been made at Sunny Pointe Guest House in Jane Lew.
(Submitted photo)
Booking Manager Janelle Swiger grew up in the former farmhouse and now works for the family business part-time since it began being rented out for events about 10 years ago. She said business has really grown since 2007, including now hosting 10-14 weddings a year.
“We picked up with a lot of weddings. We got listed as one of the Top 10 locations to get married at in West Virginia,” Swiger said. “We’ll also have various reunions or church groups. We also have a Girl Scout group that stays with us annually. August, I think, is the only month we don’t have weekends booked up.”
Swiger’s parents (and the property owners since 1978), John and Sue Ann, grew up in Lewis County and West Union, respectively. They now live in Jane Lew.
“My father used to help around Lewis County with various farmers, and I believe this is one he worked on when he was younger,” Swiger said.
The land was previously owned by Victor and Hazel Hardman.
Swiger said the rooms in the four-story farm house, full of antiques and featuring both a kitchen and six guest rooms, have been updated slightly, but there have been no major renovations.
“It’s very similar to how it was when we first opened,” Swiger said. “It’s set up for someone to come in for weeks at a time. We have a group from Michigan that comes in every Summer and stays for about 8 days.”
Designers from the DIY Network television show “Barnwood Builders” also visited the barn nearly two years ago and suggested improvements, which were successfully completed.
“But the house itself really doesn’t need anything done to it,” Swiger said. “It’s an 1800s farmhouse but my mother does a great job with decorating it.
“And it still is a working farm. We have cattle, horses, sheep, donkeys, miniature donkeys, a miniature pony, chickens. Just about anything you can name, we have it here,” Swiger said.
A mother of two pre-teenaged sons, Swiger has also stayed at the guest house with her sons, Slate and Sawyer. Slate and Sawyer also help on the property as needed.
A farm owner elsewhere in Lewis County herself, Swiger graduated from Lewis County High School in 1996, and continued to study in the family hospitality industry. She became a travel manager for a pharmaceutical company after graduating from The Boyd School of Business and Hospitality in Pittsburgh for an associates degree. The school is now a division of the Pittsburgh Technical Institute
“It’s very important that my children grow up on the farm that I grow up on,” Swiger said. “Hopefully, it will be handed down from generation-to-generation.”
Sherry Aiello, of Clarksburg, attended her step-granddaughter’s wedding at the Sunny Pointe Guest House in June 2015. She also visited with relatives staying in the house.
“I thought the property was beautiful as well as the house,” Aiello said. “I just loved everything about it because I’m an antique collector and love all things old,”
Fall festivals have been held at the property along Linden Lane since 2012.
Prices and more information can be found on sunnypointeguesthouse.com. Interested guests can also call (304) 884-7935.
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