About
a simpler way of life
When I first started back in 2006, delicious fresh food, connection to land, home and community were the themes that inspired me and were woven into everything I did. What started as a small food delivery business, eventually becoming a farm based events and culinary destination and now a consultancy and blog. These threads have remained here all along, guiding the way for each new version of South Pond to what it is today.
South Pond Home is a place for me to share my experiences through writing and teaching with the hope that I may help others create their own version of a simpler way of life. Whether that be through entrepreneurship, beautiful spaces, delicious foods or to find and create community.
Thank you for following along with me!
about
Danielle French
I was born in Germany, grew up in the beautiful state of Vermont, and came to Canada via McGill University in Montreal. I worked in a corporate setting in commercial real estate in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I then started a family, became a mother to four daughters. In the late 1990’s I started an interior design business helping clients with articulating space in older homes. My work has appeared in Canadian design magazines such as House and Home and Style at Home.
In 2006, looking for a simpler way of life for myself and my four girls, we moved from Toronto to a farm in Pontypool in Southern Ontario. I wanted to connect as a family to a rural way of living. I met my partner, Shawn, when searching for someone to help rebuild the old barn on the property. Together, we embarked on a journey to restore the land and barn into not only a family home, but a place for others to visit, appreciate, and share.
In 2021, after many hard working years to build the business into the success that it became, I was ready to move away from the farm. As much as I loved the land and living in the country, it was time to let someone else bring their passion to what we had created.
My new home is in Peterborough, Ontario where I continue to write and share my experiences in building an event business from scratch.
