Mar 15, 2018 10 min read

Drive just a few miles south of Waynesburg and you’re sure to spot the Valley View Farm venue on the Orndorff farm. The whole property comes into view at once, a sprawling Belgian horse farm home to champion draft horses, just off of Route 218.

Any bride looking for a quintessentially rustic barn for her wedding reception would be remiss to pass on the Greene County farm. It’s practically ready for social media photos without additional primp and polish, despite the hammering, nailing and drilling that drifts in from outside and wood waiting to be installed on the first level. The Orndorffs are in the midst of their winter renovations ahead of their busy event season, adding a large covered porch, building additional bathrooms and other cosmetic touch ups.

There are mementos of the farm and family on the wall – a sign reads “Orndorff’s Belgian Horses Farm Machinery” that harkens to the property’s original uses. A photo of Christy and Corbly Orndorff with their two daughters hangs among other old signs, warn wooden chairs and furniture mixed with white bulb string lights, chandeliers and chiffon draped through the rafters. Barrels are topped with lace and candles. Washboards line the walls. There are table numbers made of wooden stumps just waiting for a special occasion. Remnants of the horse farm, including chains and horseshoes, peek through. And of course, it’s not a Pinterest-perfect wedding venue without lights in Mason jars. Everything blends well, effortlessly creating a space that can simply be described as homey. That’s the way Christy likes it.

“I want people to feel at home,” she says. “Yes, it’s a business, but it’s more than that. You want people to be happy with their choice.”

She smiles as she points out the tin roof in the bathrooms upstairs that are from her grandparents’ old dairy farm. Her grandfather built that barn, and she loves knowing something his hands worked on has been repurposed.

The Valley View Farm Venue sign is visible on the side of the old barn, which dates back to at least the late 1800s, just underneath a handcrafted, special made stained glass window. A dove holding an olive branch and monarch butterflies welcome guests to the venue that’s filled with heart.

Christy Orndorff is quick to share her vision of the location with husband Corbly on a damp February morning – and that vision didn’t have to do with a wedding venue. Both have other day jobs. Corbly is a Franklin Township supervisor. Christy has been a nurse at WVU Children’s Hospital since the early 1990s, and the last few years has been working on the supportive care team for children facing life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses.

Her original goal with the old barn was to provide families a way to grieve and cope with a loss.

Dr. Joshua Dower, a coworker at the hospital, “saw a vision in the barn itself,” Christy says. “That concept was a snowball rolling downhill.”

Dower started the first bits of construction and renovations.

Their goal was to use the barn to host remembrance services or to offer parents and kids alike a bit of respite. They recall one event, a farm day with WVU’s pediatric oncology department. More than 100 people came and rode wagons, square danced, made crafts and had dinner.

“Those are the events that warm our heart and were the goal of the barn,” Christy says with a smile.

Corbly was initially skeptical: “I didn’t buy into it at all at first,” he admits.

“It’s only because he loved me,” Christy says.

While he slowly came to see her vision, they never intended to host weddings. However, they had someone approach them to ask if they might be interested. That first wedding was in the fall of 2014.

“We realized pretty quickly that it’s the weddings that are going to move that vision forward,” Christy says.

That’s why 10 percent of the profits of each event benefits Butterfly Angels, a local nonprofit that helps with funeral and burial expenses for parents that have lost a child, as well as counseling and other support.

They block off weekends and dates for remembrances. Those come first, before any paid rentals. Christy says couples have felt blessed that a portion of the funds from their special day helps families who are going coping with one of the hardest losses of their lives.

And from the about 15 paid events they have hosted so far since 2014, some have paid it forward by leaving decorations behind. One chandelier a couple brought for their reception still hangs from the rafters. Leftover food goes to a local church. Flowers left behind are taken to nursing homes for the residents.

New this year is the addition of the farmhouse, which they are making small improvements inside to accommodate bridal parties, and a carriage to bring a couple to the reception. The horses are kept in stalls in the old barn, where guests can feed them during the reception.

“That’s allowed people to not only come to the barn and be at the farm, but engage with the horses, and the horses love it,” Christy says.

The last three years have only held a few events here and there, mainly spread by word of mouth. Now, they have a Facebook page with information. Waynesburg photographer Ben McMillen took photos last December and posted them on his blog, and the venue has been a hit ever since. The community has been excited, and that’s something the Ordnorffs never thought about – the impact of a wedding venue on Greene County’s economy. Now, people have a beautiful place to get married in a community where families have lived for generations. Their location is remote, yet still 10 minutes from Waynesburg and close to the interstate. They have 15 weddings scheduled for 2018, along with about five other events.

They hosted the Community Foundation of Greene County dinner last fall, along with a craft show benefitting Butterfly Angels with thousands of people in attendance. At the end of the long day, they were all exhausted, but hearts were full knowing they raised money to benefit families that don’t yet realize they will need the help.

That is the true purpose of Valley View Farm.

The couple has tried to keep contractors on any additions local to Greene County. It’s been a design as they go, “grow as you go” project. The main contractor through it all, Jim Morris, has understood their vision and goals.

“More than a contractor, he’s an artist,” Christy says. They’ll give him a tentative design and he runs with it.

The stained glass window, a prominent feature in the barn, has a monarch butterfly above the dove. It’s meant to stand for peace, hope and new beginnings that start at the farm no matter the event. New love beginning through marriage, or finding healing in others that understand your pain. The monarch butterfly is accompanied by a chrysalis, because transitions can be isolating and dark. Though it, though, we come through different, yet beautiful. The Orndorffs hope that families feel that warmth and love they need, no matter what they’re going through, in the barn.

The glass also features elements personal to Christy and Corbly. The outer rings are made of glass that comes from the former Fairall United Methodist Church building. Members of the congregation received those pieces years ago, and the two found them in the farmhouse attic. There is a lot of special meaning throughout the barn.

Corbly loves to share the farm with visitors. His great-grandfather bought the property in 1905. The barn and farmhouse were on the property at purchase. They estimate they were built in the late 1800s, but have never been able to pin that down exactly.

Prior to the farm in Franklin Township, there were at least three generations of the family on a property in Whitley Township about two miles away. The new location was perfect for his great-grandfather to sell carriage horses in Waynesburg – the car dealership of the era. He wanted to be on a main road close to town. He also ran a livery stable, where people could tie up their horses as they shopped in town, a modern-day parking garage. He could keep a better eye on it at the new location.

Great-grandfather Orndorff died young, and his only son Charles managed the farm. He brought in the draft horses, selling teams to farmers and coal miners. In the 1950s, farm machinery became popular. People didn’t need farm horses like they used to.

Corbly’s father, John Clark Orndorff, managed the farm’s machinery business while Corbly’s grandfather kept registered horses for show, though they still sold workhorses to Amish for their fieldwork.

Corbly and his sister, Christina Lemley, who still lives on the property, took up the family horse business after their grandfather passed in 1984, with their father still handling equipment. Corbly and Christina split the farmhouse with his parents for six years before buying a neighboring farm in 1995 with the birth of their eldest daughter. They have two daughters, Cassandra and Caitlin. Cassie is finishing up her doctorate degree in animal science at Cornell. Caitlin is a senior at Waynesburg High School, planning to study business at Waynesburg University.

Corbly says the venue breathes life back into a farm that has been dormant since the unexpected passing of his father in 2003. After his death, they discontinued the machinery business to focus on Belgian horses, which the farm is famous for.

Horse traffic isn’t as regular now, and people aren’t stopping by for farm machinery anymore. Corbly says that after his dad’s death, the farm felt out of sorts. The Valley View Farm venue, which brings back one of the original names of a property that is now commonly referred to as the Orndorff Farm, has breathed new life into the hills.

Every generation has taken the farm and kept it going in their own way. In many ways, it has evolved, yet still kept its heart and soul. The venue is that next step.

Through all of the growth, the Orndorffs say they have no master plan, but intend to follow wherever God leads them. They have ideas and things they’re interested in trying, but nothing is set in stone. By the grace of God, they’ve taken on renovations from any gas and oil money received from the property’s mineral rights. Corbly says he wants to pay homage to generations of Orndorffs that have toiled over this land, reinvesting in the family farm.

They try not to think too far ahead, being focused on the present. Their business plan is to give back. Daughter Caitlin has taken a keen interest in helping with the venue. She loves bringing out the horses for guests. She understands the purpose of the space and she wants to do more. That gives Corbly and Christy peace.

“Our children will carry a vision forward that you see now,” Christy says.

For more information on Valley View Farm venue, call 724-627-6805 or visit facebook.com/pg/ValleyviewfarmVenue.