A Father's Legacy:
Building a Retreat Centre
(An inspirational family story)
What if your land became a place where the people you love could gather?
A place for family & friends.
For music. Retreats. Shared meals.
For deep conversations around a fire.
What if that place could be your legacy?
Most people leave behind money.
Some leave behind buildings.
Colin wanted to leave behind something different. He wanted to create a place where people could gather. And he did it in record time!
And while the glamping tents, sauna, pond, and gathering spaces are impressive, the most important thing built here can’t be photographed…
But to understand what I’m talking about & how this retreat centre came to be, we need to go back to the beginning.
A Dream Bigger Than a Business
Many retreat centres begin with a business plan.
This one began with a family.
Colin has always loved gathering people together. Whether over good food, having conversations in the sauna, backdeck drinks at the cottage, bringing together the people he loves has always brought joy to him.
As his children (Eva, Ori, Nick) grew older, he began to notice something – they all wanted to create spaces for people to gather.
His daughter Eva is a yoga teacher and facilitator who helps people navigate healing and grief. She regularly hosts retreats and workshops, creating spaces where people can slow down, heal, and grow.
His son Ori shares a different gift. Music. Community. And a passion for sustainability, intimate gatherings, and shared experiences with friends.
Different paths. A similar desire: Both wanted a place where people could come together.
So Colin decided to help make it happen.
Not someday…
Not after years of planning…
What happened next was remarkable.
Within a single year, roads were installed, tent platforms appeared across the landscape, a pond was built, gathering spaces took shape, and the foundations of a retreat centre emerged from what had previously been raw land.
A barrel sauna arrived.
A hot tub followed.
Tents popped up on platforms.
A communal kitchen was created.
Fire pits, hammocks, showers, composting toilets, and gathering spaces quickly transformed the property into something special.
The vision was becoming real.
But like most ambitious projects, excitement eventually collided with reality.
The Design Challenges
The infrastructure had appeared quickly.
The landscape had not.
Fresh earth surrounded much of the site.
Water was moving across slopes and carrying soil into the pond.
Composting toilet material and kitchen organic matter was going to accumulate fast without a clear plan for how it would be processed.
The pond itself was beautiful, but there was concern about water quality for providing guests with swimming.
And beneath the physical challenges was something even more important:
Alignment.
Like many family projects, everyone cared deeply. Everyone wanted the project to succeed.
But they were not always looking at the future through the same lens.
Colin was thinking about legacy and his family.
Eva was thinking about retreats, public programming, and how this place would support the work she felt called to do in the world.
Different goals.
Different responsibilities.
Different resources.
None of these were problems.
But they were conversations that needed to happen.
One of the most overlooked aspects of design is helping 2+ people become clear about the future they are trying to create together.
The most successful projects I have worked on are rarely the ones with the biggest budgets… They are the ones where people find alignment around a shared vision.
So we made time and space all together and open conversations around worries, doubts, and the shared future.
To their credit, both Colin and Eva approached these conversations with honesty, emotional intelligence, and genuine care for one another.
Not every concern was magically solved.
But everyone left with greater clarity.
And that clarity allowed us to begin solving the challenges on the land itself.
Turning Problems Into Assets
One of the principles I teach clients is that every property is constantly communicating with us. The question is whether we know how to listen.
Water flowing across a hillside might look like an erosion problem.
Organic matter piling up might look like a waste problem.
A muddy pond might look like a water-quality problem.
But often the best solutions emerge when we stop asking how to eliminate a problem and start asking how to transform it.
The first example of this is how we tackled the erosion problem so it could become an opportunity to harvest water, grow food, and improve the beauty of the site.
Using surveying techniques, we mapped how water was moving across the landscape and identified opportunities to create terraces that would slow water down, increase infiltration, and make the slopes easier to access and enjoy.
Suddenly, instead of bare hillsides with erosion issues, Eva and Colin could see the opportunity to turn them into gigantic strawberry patches! Future guests could wander through the landscape and harvest fruit as they explore.
The goal was not simply to stop erosion (water problem).
The goal was to create abundance (water solution).
Another example of turning a problem into an asset was the site’s organic matter.
With composting toilets, a kitchen, and regular guests, there is going to be a steady stream of organic material to be managed… a waste problem? Nope! A resource solution!
Many people would have solved this by building a large composting system to process the organic matter into soil. But this requires labour or machinery.
Instead, I showed them a simple solution called worm tubes – in-ground micro composting stations that allow worms to do the work for you.
Rather than collecting, moving, turning, and managing large compost piles, the organic matter can be processed directly in the landscape. Additionally, we chose spots for the worm tubes where future fruit trees would be planted.
The organic matter stays where it is needed.
The worms do the work.
Future trees benefit from years of improved fertility and soil life.
After explaining this to Eva and Colin, they were all in! I showed Eva how to build a worm tube step-by-step using a 5-gallon bucket. We placed it into the ground, then covered it with mulch and marked it with a rock so it blends seamlessly into the landscape while remaining easy to find later. (See picture above). Then Eva ordered the materials to build 20 more.
As the clients’ problems turned into solutions, we turned to the larger site’s design, including additional functional landscaping solutions to make each part of the retreat centre feel unique.
- Around the glamping tents, we explored plant themes to give each tent its own character while also providing food for guests.
- At the 6 corners of the hexagon yoga platform, we planted 2 currants, 2 haskaps, and 2 saskatoons.
- And along the edge of a path, we planned a raspberry trellis system.
The vision was becoming clearer… Not just a retreat centre….
A thriving landscape full of food that becomes more beautiful, more productive, and more abundant with each passing year.
More Than A Retreat Centre
When I think back on my time working with Eva and Colin, I won’t think first about the strawberry terraces, the worm tubes, or the glamping tents with fruit trees.
I think about the people, the excitement of watching a vision take shape, and the power of family that sparked a place where others can gather.
Today, the retreat centre is already being used for family gatherings, workshops, and community events.
(Private booking inquiries can be made to: EMAIL: THEQUARRY.HALIBURTON@GMAIL.COM
TEL: 705-854-0041)
But what excites me most is not what it is today…
It’s what it might become over the coming decades.
The fruit trees will grow.
The food systems will mature.
The landscape will become increasingly beautiful and productive.
New memories will be created around the fire.
New friendships will form at retreats.
New conversations will unfold beneath the stars.
And perhaps one day, people visiting the property won’t know anything about the erosion challenges, the design conversations, or the long days spent building it all.
They will simply know that this place feels good to be in.
And that is the power of where intent meets thoughtful design.
Colin didn’t just build a retreat centre…
He built a legacy around family and community.
And while the glamping tents, sauna, pond, and gathering spaces are impressive…
The most important thing built here still can’t be photographed.
What To Create a Legacy or Property?
Whether you’re dreaming of a family retreat centre, a productive acreage, a workshop venue, or simply a property that better reflects your values, good design starts with a clear vision.
If you’d like help creating a property that is beautiful, functional, and deeply aligned with your goals, I’d be honoured to help.
Learn more about my consulting services, and let’s make your property beautiful, edible, and resilient.
And if you’re not ready for consulting, design, or install support yet, consider joining my online community where I share design strategies, project walkthroughs, and lessons from properties like this one for just $20/month. You also get access to over 60+ hours (and growing) of video lessons.
Learn more about the online community. Join us in turning property dreamers into property doers.
Through helping clients 1-on-1 and through my online community, it’s my mission to change the world, one person, one property, one community at a time.
Warmly,
Kenton “Legacy-helper” Zerbin