A Fairytale Experience in the Cottage at Storybook Farm in Danielsville, Georgia

 I am ecstatic to share with you about our magical time last week at the Cottage at Storybook Farm, an experience that literally felt straight out of a fairytale; the perfect unique experience for our family. 

Our cottage, nestled right in the middle of  breathtaking Northern Georgian farmland, was so extraordinary as compared with our typical stays when we travel.  And we all embraced this new experience for our family.  There is just nothing like waking up and seeing exotic animals, like a camel or emu, walking past your window.

We were able to meet owner of the cottage and Storybook Farm, Michelle Kaye, who shared with us the history of how she developed her passions for rescue and exotic animals, and the cottage itself.  She first saw the cottage on the back of a truck with a ‘for sale’ sign. On a whim, she called the number and bought the house! She had it moved to the farm and started renovating. 

The Cottage 

Built in Athens, Georgia circa 1957, the cottage has so much history.  The living room and bedroom floors are original to the house, restored and refinished during the renovation. Everything in the cabin was done so well with beautiful, calm ascetics and modern farmhouse styled rooms.  I caught myself photographing rooms for my own personal home decor inspiration!  Michelle truly has a gift of creating spaces with so much warmth and character.

The cottage itself was perfect for our family of 5 as it sleeps 6 with two bedrooms and a pullout couch in the living room. The front porch had two chair swings on either end.   The sun shone onto the patio in morning and it was our favorite spot to sit and rock while we sipped our coffees.  An additional patio on the side of the cottage overlooks a small pond in the back of the property and it could easily be used for a happy hour drink while enjoying the sunset behind the rolling hills of Storybook Farm at the end of a day. 

The best part about the staying here was being surrounded on all sides of the cottage by Storybook Farm’s 200 acre farm grounds.  Different from a farm we would normally think of, Storybook Farm has all kinds of animals coexisting together right outside the cottage doorstep.  We had so much fun listing off all the animals we could see from our side porch: camel, emu, cow, horse, buffalo, lama, swans, cats & dogs, to name a few; it was so entertaining for our children and truly a unique experience for our suburban/city living family. 

ATV Tour

A perfect add-on to your stay at the Cottage at Storybook Farm is the ATV tour. This tour checked allthe boxes.  Even better than riding in an ATV for the first time, our kids absolutely loved being able to see all the animals up close and personal!  We were able to touch and feed camels, cows, chickens, emu, pigs, a warthog, zebra, horses and donkeys, and even pet baby rabbits.  

Our entire tour was led by Michelle herself. If you are an animal lover, you will absolutely love Michelle.  Her passion for rescue animals is inspiring. Over the past 20 years, she and her husband, Beau, have rescued/fostered over 1,000 dogs of all kinds. Their farm has been recognized by the American Red Cross, East Georgia Chapter, as Animal Rescue Heroes. 

*The photos from our safari (above) were taken by 

Repurposed Photography, who we highly recommend! 

Learning from Michelle was such a treat for our family. She is a wealth of knowledge and was able to answer all of our homesteading questions.  It truly was an educational experience for us all and I just love giving our kids these real life adventures to learn more about nature while gaining a worldly perspective. It is my hope that they learned to have more empathy and compassion for animals and our beautiful world.  Experiences like this is ‘world schooling’ at its finest and it is always our goal to give our kids as many opportunities to experiential learning while we travel!

The ATV tour was definitely the highlight of our entire week and we learned so much about animals and farm life on this tour! 

Staying at the cottage was one of the most unique opportunities our family has ever experienced. It’s obvious why the farm is affectionately called “Storybook Farm”. Our time there was enchanting as if we walked straight into a fairytale. We connected more to each other and to nature. There is no doubt we all left Storybook Farm feeling a newfound love and admiration for God’s beautiful creation.