Yellow Dog Retreat; Wine country vacation rental

About Jeremy Gerger

I was born and raised in Madison and graduated from Madison High School in 2003. My wife, Chelsey was born and raised in an even smaller town in Pennsylvania called Corry. We met while attending Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where she obtained an English degree and I left with degrees in Environmental Science & Management. Chelsey currently works for an adhesives and sealant company in Mentor and I work for an environmental consulting and remediation company in Independence.

Jeremy Gerger purchased this House in 2016

Why Jeremy Gerger chose Madison

We purchased our 'forever home' in 2011 which is located immediately to the east of Yellow Dog Retreat. It came with approximately 2.5 acres and is a century home that was moved from Unionville sometime in the 1950s. I always had my eye on the big barn located near our house to store my boat and pursued purchasing this small parcel of land from the owners. The owners countered with an offer to acquire the barn, the house and an additional 7+ acres of property. After a little convincing, Chelsey agreed to take the leap and we pulled the trigger. We closed on the property Easter weekend of 2016 and spent over 2.5 years flipping it into a place for family and friends to relax and have a good time. It's been a tremendous learning experience and I've realized that we'll never quite be done with renovations and improvements. For instance, look for a back deck, pond, grain bin bar and patio with fire pit in the near future!

What makes this House unique

The property is full of history! Our house was moved from Unionville sometime in the 1950s and served as a large dairy farm. A large barn formerly sat out back but burned down in the 1970s during a thunderstorm. We still have the newspaper clippingand the old barn ramp is visible to the southeast of Yellow Dog Retreat. Yellow Dog Retreat itself is a former Sears Roebuck House from the 1930s that was originally constructed about 100 feet to the south of where is currently sits. Sometime in the 1960s, the house was dismantled piece by piece (no idea why), rotated 90 degrees, and put back together in its current location. The original wood siding was also covered up with brick when it was rebuilt. A lot of the furniture, barn wood, etc. that we used on decorating Yellow Dog Retreat came from the property. For instance, the antique window handing on the porch came from underneath piles of junk that we found in the barn. Oh, and about the name. Well we have a 7-year old yellow lab named Eddie. He's our best friend! 'Yellow Dog Retreat' was a working title the entire time we were remodeling... "Chels, I'm going over to Yellow Dog for a few hours...." that sort of thing. Well the name just stuck!