~Narrated by Kyle~ Each Cincinnati natives, Audrey and I both went to the University of Cincinnati where we studied Architecture and Urban Planning. In the fall of 2018 we were participating in a design career fair that saw us working in a group together to come up with ideas for how to revitalize the local community of Lower Price Hill. Through a hectic couple of hours we worked together to design a project solution that would map local connections between people with skills and those who needed help with different tasks and ideas. Along the way, it seemed we were charting our own connection, though that would still be a few years in the making. We both left the following Spring for Co-Ops, including the one I found that day at E2C to go out to California. As we got back to Cincy our paths continued to cross in the way that people always seem to in Cincinnati. We would see each other across campus, notice one another popping up on mutual friends’ social medias, and we had a few classes together as we worked towards our Historic Preservation certificates. Despite all of these opportunities, neither of us was bold enough to make the first move and ask the other one out. In our last class together I was really hoping the group project gods would put us together once again for our survey of a historic building, but no luck. Similarly, Audrey tells a story of a wager she had with her friend Gabi that would see her asking me out by the end of the semester. It never came to that, with Bumble finally breaking the ice as we got a match in October of 2020. Audrey agreed to meet me for a date on October 16, and I really went all out by bringing her to the classiest establishment I knew - a dive bar called City View Tavern in Mt. Adam’s. I thought it went well, but with Audrey dealing with mid-term exams, I had to wait a few days before I got a text back. A couple of weeks later I happened to see Audrey's birthday coming up in a few days on Facebook, and asked if she would want to run or go to her gym that morning as a ploy to surprise her that I knew. Knowing now how Audrey feels about running, it's a miracle that she agreed, and she was definitely relieved when a rainy morning prompted us to skip the running and opt for breakfast instead (which she also ended up paying for- honestly shocked she still agreed to date me after that one). After finishing our final year at DAAP together, Audrey made the hard decision to follow me and my job offer to California. Though Cincinnati will always be home, we have loved the life we got to create out on the West Coast and the many quiet nights and special occasion accented by a brilliant sunset behind Catalina Island. Then, as we were ready to take this next step in our relationship, we were lucky that Audrey's sister Francesca was playing in a soccer tournament for the Philippines National Team, offering us the opportunity to travel to Bali and the Philippines where I got to meet Lola and learn so much about the Alberto family's heritage. After a day of several changed plans, with the sunset throwing its brilliant golden light on the face of the mighty Mount Mayon, there was no better place for me to ask Audrey if she would spend the rest of our lives chasing sunsets just like that.

With our shared passion for Historic Preservation, Audrey and I were thrilled to find a venue with such a rich history, evident in its sprawling estate. The land was seemingly first developed at the turn of the 19th century, as a home and spirits distillery, the grounds of the Snyder's Mills whiskey warehouses and bottling facilities. In the mid-1800s, the property was purchased and the main home expanded by Samuel Fern III, a wealthy Steamboat builder who used the grounds, and a rumoured tunnel connecting the main house to the river, in his mission of abolitionism. Fern would ferry escaped slaves across the Ohio River on his packet boats. William McKinley visited with the family during this time and stayed in the home's front room on at least two occasions. In the early-mid 1900s, the property evolved into a girl's riding academy named Camp Richwood. Many of the property's outbuildings were constructed at that time as lodging for the camp's students. The home eventually fell into disrepair until being restored in the early 2000s and primarily used as a wedding and event venue in the 20 years since.