Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Jerry Martin
Her inspiration came from the rolling pastures, an 1840s log cabin and a nondescript barn she turned into a crystal chandelier showplace.
It was paradise found the moment she saw it, but the “vision” took nearly a year to evolve. And now, on the outskirts of Pell City lies a majestic estate known as Sweet Apple Farm — a picturesque event venue “Miss Tina” wants to share with all who dream of celebrating a special day in a dream-come-true place.
The sprawling 80-acre estate didn’t always look as it does today. “A labor of love” over 12 months transformed it into a perfect place for weddings and other special events and parties.
The empty shell of an 1841 log cabin is fully restored and decorated with period antiques to be used as a honeymoon suite. The former owners, Bill and Barbara Alvis, bought it and had it moved to the property. But it remained a shell until Miss Tina, who got her abbreviated name from Alabamians who couldn’t pronounce the longer, Italian version, began her work there. “Now it is a real home for somebody. I tried to keep the integrity as much as I could but with modern conveniences.”
Just across the way is a garage turned into a guest cottage with courtyard and patio and all the amenities for a comfortable and memorable stay.
A nearby potting shed is now a dressing room and bathroom.
A gently rolling pasture of lush green features a simple, white archway to frame a wedding ceremony. Or move the nuptials inside to a small barn turned chapel.
A white picket fence fronts the property for three quarters of a mile, and two ponds are home to catfish, bream “and very large turtles,” she said.
But the focal point that draws like no other is the crystal chandelier barn with hardwood floors that evokes a magical feel as soon as she flips on the light switch. The kinship she feels with this part of the property is evident when she refers to it as a person rather than a structure.
“When I found her, I didn’t know what to do with her. I’ll know when I get there,” she said she would tell herself.
Her contracting crew, led by Pell City’s Randall Weaver, gutted and restored the home she lives in first. “But I was drawn to the barn over and over again.” Every day when the crew left, she would sit on a trash can and think and pray about what to do — “How can it best serve other people and make their dreams come true?”
Then she envisioned it — the whole place bathed in lights from dangling crystal chandeliers, reflecting in the rich and rustic texture of hardwood floors. “Then I knew the road I was on.”
It was then that she started her due diligence, she said, researching to see if it could become a viable business. Much to her own surprise, she found there was nothing like it in the area. “I followed my intuition, and it has been an honor and privilege to create this.”
The barn can play host to 150 people for a seated dinner or 200 for a buffet. A commercial prep kitchen services the barn, which boasts mammoth windows and glass doors all around to let the outside in — bringing the rolling hills into a perfectly framed view. From the ceiling beams hang rows and rows of imported chandeliers put together by hand by her electricians.
It is hard to imagine that it once served as a home to pigs and horses containing nothing more than stalls and a dirt floor. Today, it is has the feel of an elegant ballroom nestled cozily in the countryside.
When she moved to the region from Miami, “I thought I was retiring.” But the land and all that came with it beckoned her to see it as a “gift” to be shared others.
With a background in construction developments along with a radio talk show career, stints in newspaper writing and photography as well as wedding photography, Miss Tina is quite a story all on her own. Her distinctive voice set her on a path to radio when she was discovered by Roy Leonard and Paul Harvey, she said. “I did voiceovers for them.”
That led her to a talk show from a “feminine view” and various other careers and challenges over the years in Chicago and Miami.
She was never content to do just one thing, and her versatility shows in virtually every square inch of Sweet Apple Farm.
“It took Randall a month to quit rolling his eyes,” she said of her contractor’s reaction to the plans she had for the property. Custom benches are found all over the land. Solar lights at night shine “like diamonds,” she said. And an 1800 bell stands sentry over the chapel and her home.
A fire pit, a deer sanctuary, a screened pavilion, a walkway uncommonly made of manhole covers and stone and a “serenity pond” are but a few of the unusual touches she has given the place to make it a destination point like no other.
“I love helping people. That’s my bottom line. This has been the grandest challenge I have ever awarded myself, and I am humbly pleased to have met it. I created a very beautiful place to help make people’s dreams come true.”
Just like hers.
