Serenity springs michigan city1/19/2024 ![]() We’d work during the week and would come out to LaPorte on weekends. L: At first, we actually had a house both in Oak Lawn, Illinois, and in LaPorte. K: When you first bought Serenity Springs, were you already living in Michigan City? Or were you still living in Chicago? L: Yeah, it was approximately 1991-1992 when we purchased the property. K: Sounds like it! So you bought the property in 1992? But Rich did all the layout of the property, including the roads, cut down trees, put in the sewer, and made sure all the electric cables were buried, so there was a lot of preliminary work in those first seven years before we opened. He wasn’t alone alone - throughout the years, we’ve had different guys working for us. And this is just Rich building all of this? We went from five units to 11, and then we went from 11 to 18, and then - I’d have to look at the calendar to check the year - we took a big jump and went from 18 to all 36. We opened in 1999 with just the first five cabins, then we slowly worked on the other units, and as we felt we were ready to expand, we grew a section at the time, more or less. Once the warehouses were done, we built the barn and what we call “the carriage house,” which is the office. We built the three warehouses so that we would have a place for storage of equipment and materials. ![]() We looked into it, purchased the property, and it probably took Rich seven years to build. L: We’d had our eye on a piece of property, and then suddenly it just happened to be for sale. How did you choose the location for Serenity Springs? We became aware of the idea or the need for an adult getaway - something more special than a hotel, something that was just a little different - so Rich said, “hey, wouldn’t it be neat to have something like that, but have it on a piece of property, so you actually could take a walk or look at a lake?” You know what I mean? Something with more to it. Laura: It was kind of a vision of Rich’s. Katie: How did you first decide to start Serenity Springs? I sat down with Laura to talk about the story of Serenity Springs, and what it takes to run such a successful company. Laura and Rich Ostergren have run Serenity Springs for 20 years now, receiving only shining reviews from everyone who stays there.
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