We’ve completed the patio at Brandt House! In keeping with the historic vibe, we opted for a dry stacked stone wall to frame our patio. A dry stacked wall is one built without mortar. Dry stacked walls have been built for hundreds of years and are incredibly sturdy and long lasting. We love adding this wall to the ‘City of Native Stone’ and we especially love the aesthetic it brings to the backyard at Brandt House. We worked with Matt Heslet Masontry Specialties to complete this work.
As we were bringing in dirt to raise the elevation for the patio, we discovered an old, hand stacked stone well. The well is about 40 feet deep and has about five feet of water in it. We instantly fell in love with this piece of history, and we knew it needed to be preserved. In order to make it all work, we asked the masons to extend the well to the new level of the patio, and they did a great job of blending it altogether. We were able to reuse a well cap from just up the street in Alma and had a piece of heavy duty glass cut to cover the well and allow visitors to peek inside. Our electrician is working to install a light that will shine into the well.
Once the well was preserved, we brought in the concrete team who poured, stamped, and stained the patio at Brandt House. With the patio complete, we began searching for patio furniture so we could enjoy the space properly. We found a man who restores heavy duty, real iron patio sets. We made plans to look at his inventory and promptly purchased eight tables and chairs.
On June 7, we hosted our first live music night on the patio at Brandt House. Will Gunselman, a musician from Arkansas, married to a Wabaunsee County native agreed to play our first show. The patio was full of people, music, and laughter. It was everything we had dreamed for the patio. We’ve planned live music for the third weekend of each month through October, make plans to join us and stay the weekend as well!