38 | MAY 11 • 2023
W
ant to enjoy the great outdoors
this summer without the hassles
usually associated with living
under the stars? “Glamping”— glamorous
camping — might be just what you need.
At least that’s what Lauren and Jason
Blanford of Boyne Falls are hoping. The
couple will open Lost Woods Farm & Forest
soon for their third summer season.
The site has three platform tents and
a small A-frame cabin that sleep two to
six people and are equipped with memo-
ry-foam mattresses, bed linens, chairs and
bonfire supplies. There are tiled shower
stalls, and guests enjoy a homemade bagel
breakfast in the morning. The 160-acre
farm’s historic barn can be rented for spe-
cial events, and the Blanfords are happy to
arrange local excursions and farm dinners
for guests.
This year, they added a two-person heated
geodesic dome that will be open year-round,
so they can welcome winter guests inter-
ested in snowshoeing or skiing at nearby
Boyne Mountain. Their expansion was
helped with a grant from Hebrew Free Loan.
The couple moved to the site in 2020,
shortly after the start of the COVID pan-
demic.
It was a “very unpredictable time,
” said
Lauren. “Our initial idea of having an event
barn was put on hold because of COVID
restrictions.
” Glamping was a good way to
cope, she said. “It was a perfect social dis-
tancing vacation option.
”
AN INTERNATIONAL ROAD
The Blanfords traveled an international road
to Boyne Falls.
Lauren, 41, grew up in East Grand Rapids
and was active in the NFTY youth group at
Temple Emanuel, serving on the regional
board. While at Indiana University, she
spent three summers as a counselor at a
Jewish camp in Mississippi. She says her
camping experiences inspired her to estab-
lish Lost Woods Farm & Forest.
Jason, 40, was born in South Africa and
moved to the United States at age 3. He
grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went to
Davidson College in North Carolina.
Lauren was looking for adventure after
graduating from college. She taught English
in Chile for a year, then took a live-in nanny
job with the Walgreen family, traveling the
world with the Chicago-based drugstore
magnate. Back in Chicago, she met someone
on JDate who brought his friend Jason with
him to their first meeting. She and Jason
both quickly realized they were with the
wrong people, and they’ve been together
ever since.
Jason already had plans to attend graduate
This summer, try “glamping” in the great outdoors.
A Unique Summer Getaway
BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
business SPOTlight
brought to you in partnership with
B I R M I N G H A M