The place to be for corporate and wellness retreats, as well as weddings
By Jennifer Campbell
Adam Hendriks says he’d return to Thee Farm’s corporate retreat site in a heartbeat. The vice-president of Tomlinson Group, an environmental and transportation infrastructure company in the Ottawa area, says they usually head to Las Vegas for their annual corporate retreats but this year, they didn’t want to do that.
Instead, they wanted to support a Canadian business, so they settled on the Ottawa region’s latest corporate retreat and wedding venue. Set on 110 acres of rural land in Kemptville, just a 30-minute drive south of Kanata, the property is designed to be a wedding venue on weekends and a site for corporate and wellness retreats during the week.
“We had a great meal, and we did a whole bunch of team-building activities,” Adam says of the three-day event they held at Thee Farm.
Thee Farm owners Doug and Greg Clunie are contractors who own a diverse group of construction-related businesses. This property includes a completely modernized 1854 farmhouse that retains its old-world charm, as well as six 400-square-foot geodesic glamping domes that each feature one king-sized bed, full bathrooms, a barbecue and privacy walls on a stone piazza. The latter features a fire table, dining table and stellar views of the man-made 60-acre lake.
Adam and his senior managers used the domes and the property’s farmhouse, which has five bedrooms and boasts a dream kitchen, pool table, shuffleboard table, dining room, comfortable den and adjoining hot tub. Because they were a bigger group of approximately 30, Adam also brought in trailers for some of his team members, but next time he won’t have to do that because part of Thee Farm’s multi-year expansion plan includes a 12-suite guest house pavilion, saunas, a cold plunge, hot tubs and a heated saltwater pool as well as a reception building with a lobby coffee bar, meeting space and online meal-ordering options.
At this point, a Mercedes limousine van is already on hand to transport guests to and from the airport and the crew is trained to attend to small details—a guest’s favourite snack or a chilled Canadian bubbly in the fridge of their room, for example, or umbrellas delivered on demand. And then there’s the Frette Italian linens and bathrobes that come with each dome or bedroom in the farmhouse.
A man-made lake is stocked with fish and there’s a fire pit at the lake’s edge for evening campfires. There are also kayaks and paddle boards on offer as well as full-sized tennis, pickleball and basketball courts.
Tomlinson’s team was officially there for its annual strategy session, which took place over each of the three days, after which team members had nice dinners in the expansive event barn on site. The team also took advantage of all of the amenities by participating in an Amazing Race-style contest as a team-building exercise.
“You had to catch three fish, you had to get in a kayak and go to the middle of the lake to get a clue; we had clues hidden in the bushes [on the 3.7-kilometre walking trail that circles the lake]; you could jump on fat bikes to drive around; you had to guide people who were blindfolded; you had to carve pumpkins,” Adam says. “It turned into a strategy game—a giant competition between teams.”
Later in the retreat, there was a pickleball tournament and a three-on-three basketball game, as well as a campfire during which the Thee Farm team set up a stall for beer, wine and campfire snacks.
Fit for larger events, too
Thee Farm’s event barn can accommodate 150 for dinner and 200 for a standup reception and the caterers provide some decor and even Christmas trees. The barn also has bathrooms with showers and a “green room,” which would work well as a bridal or performer’s preparation area should a corporate group bring in some entertainment. Outside the barn, a pond and cascading gardens offer a perfect spot for afternoon cocktails and photos while lit-up trees create a magical evening landscape in the warmer months.
Adam’s Tomlinson colleagues enjoyed the pond, with some even jumping in, and they took advantage of an adjoining shipping container-turned-pizza-truck for afternoon pizzas on the piazza.
The site’s full-time chef was previously the executive chef at Minto Suites Hotel, a banquet chef at The Westin and worked with Sean McGrath, president of Thee Farm, for about 20 years at the Centurion Conference and Event Centre. Sean ran the Centurion Centre for 25 years and also worked as a convention director with Westin Hotels and catering director with Delta Hotels. Between them, they know what they’re doing in terms of pulling off a good event.
“We’re taking bookings for a lot of corporate groups,” Sean says. “I’m just looking at my phone and we have three different requests just from today. And so far, we’ve only done digital marketing.”
