Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey.
Hi Casey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Carl and I met at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and we became a military family that was transferred to Fort Bragg, NC. After encouragement from friends, we moved to the Haymount neighborhood for its historical architecture and close knit community. During that time, many of the older homes were being torn down and lots cleared for building of newer homes. Having grown up in historical homes ourselves, it was sad for us to see the houses being cleared. We also felt that the unique homes added to the character of our neighborhood. It was during that time that we began to try to save a few of the homes from demolition and aim to restore their character and repropose them as quality rental homes. We had the thought process that we could create nicer rental homes than were currently available and that people would take care of them with love and respect; we would take care of our clients and they would take care of us. This is how Haymount Homes was started.
After we started designing our rental properties, people started reaching out to us and about solving design challenges in their own historical homes. These properties present unique opportunities to be creative and the styling branch of our business was born. We helped them source new, affordable furniture and decor pieces to really reflect their personality and style, but also offering cost-effective ways to appreciate their spaces.
This love of our neighborhood progressed and our daughter, Elise, wanted to start selling her sought out baked goods at the local city market. At 13 years old, she licensed her bakery, EB Sweets, and started selling weekly downtown. Her bakery specialized in custom orders and also specialty items inside accommodating dietary restrictions as she was also gluten-free herself. At that time, I wanted to create another item for the city market – a clean based fragrance business selling coconut apricot wood wick candles and clean based home fragrances, cleaners and more. As a health care professional, I struggled with the fragrance industry and the clean alternatives that I was able to find were inaccessible for so many due to the search distance and also cost. We developed affordable, locally made clean based candles that are high performing and better for our clients and homes. With this, Haymount Homes The Market was born. We sold at the city market and online at www.haymounthomesllc.com for several years in this fashion.
Our candles and Elise’s bakery gained traction and it became evident that we needed to find a more permeant home. We purchased The Historic Taylor Utley Home at 916 Hay St. Fayetteville, NC 28305 with the intention of creating a permeant home for the businesses. The property also had a smaller location that I was able to open my own Physical Therapy studio in as well: The Haymount Body Mechanic. We spent two years renovating this 1848 property which is on the National Registry of historic places. We are now moving into our slow opening on May 16th, 2026.
Our historic home has a gracious front porch and we instantly saw the potential to expand the business into an area we had long been missing in our neighborhood – home-made ice cream. Having been from Wisconsin and having my first job be serving ice cream, I knew that it was a great way to add more value to our neighborhood while also giving teens the chance to enter the work force. We have four teen-aged children and their friends all were excited about the possibility of working for Haymount Homes The Market and we knew we could create a great opportunity for them. Our microcreamery, The Haymount Parlour, was then born and we are working to create its reality now. We will offer clean-based, hand crafted deserts right inside our historic home and allow people to enjoy the home in a new way. As a family, we love the moments created around a trip for ice cream and the joy that follows. We want The Market to feel like a small respite for our community in the same way. We believe in small deserts, but also want to be sure they are made better – ingredients to our standards and a positive experience is our goal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Owning and renovating 12 properties in a historic neighborhood is not an easy task. There are countless of challenges and surprises that develop and you have to learn to be creative and navigate solutions. Making homes beautiful, functional and affordable is a balance we try to strike daily.
We also faced skepticism along the way inside our mission of caring for the older homes and creating more elevated rental spaces. Having no contracting skills or real estate experience, we admittingly did not really know what we were doing. However, a high motivation to improve our community helped us navigate the uncertainties and figure out what worked and what did not. We were naive, but also learned quickly from mistakes we made and we were not afraid to take a chance on the next project.
We’ve been impressed with Haymount Homes, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in rental homes in our historic neighborhood of Haymount in Fayetteville, NC. Our spaces are short and long ter rentals and can be found on airbnb and vrbo platforms. Production studios often use our spaces for television shows, documentaries, commercial filming, music videos and more. Included is NBC dateline, HGTV, Oxygen network and countless others.
Haymout Homes The Market specializes in clean based home fragrances, decor, house plants and more. We are also opening our bakery and micro-creamery division, The Haymount Parlour, later this year.
Our brand is community driven. We are investing in our community and wanting to create spaces that elevate our lives, invite joy, and make loving your home and community accessible to all. We are proud that we have been able to be care-takers of so many special properties and now we get to create a space that our whole community can gather and enjoy. At the heart of what we do is a drive to care for those around us. Haymount Homes is our engine for that mission.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
We did not have any real clue what we were doing, but we did have an intense desire to improve our community. As a military family, it is hard not to feel transplanted and transient and we wanted our kids to have a sense of belonging and home. We decided to pour into our neighborhood and improve what we could with little money or knowledge on what we were doing. Our purpose was clear, but evolving, and we let our mistakes quickly guide us to improving our methods.
Our advice for others is not to wait for “the right time” to act. You will find that the stars never align in such a way and you will unlikely know when that magical moment arrives. Our ability to decide and take a risk, guided by our principles, was the real action that set us apart. We decided to do something and that was the difference. We did not let our insecurities dominate.
Pricing:
- $20 standard coconut apricot wax candle that burns for 50-60 hours and has a crackling wood wick
- $16 clean based eau de parfum
- $10 clean based skincare products
- $20 cleaned based home cleaner concentrates
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.haymounthomesllc.com
- Instagram: @haymounthomes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haymounthomes/
