ative Texans, Randy and Marilyn Tarin, like to travel. On several of many weekend trips throughout East Texas, they began to dream of living there. When they retired several years ago, they still lived in their home near Dallas. On a trip to Athens, they hooked up with a realtor to look at land. After she showed them several properties that were just not right, she told them that she had just "one more" to show them. It was a little more land than they were looking for and perhaps a little more than they wanted to spend, but when they saw it, they knew it was just right for them. It was 72 wooded acres that followed a creek interrupted in the center by a large two and a half acre pond.

What attracted Marilyn to the property was the long winding road through the woods to a clearing that opened onto the pond. It was an old farm-turned-deer-lease that had been neglected for many years. But through the overgrown brush, trash and erosion, they saw the potential.

They bought the property and began the slow cleanup and restoration on the weekends. To begin with, there were no buildings on the property with the exceptions of an old portable building and a make-shift outhouse (as yet there was no running water). Marilyn's nesting instinct took over and soon turned the portable building into a "home away from home".

Randy took on the task of replacing the old outhouse with something a little more substantial and with the help of his son and son-in-law dug a new pit for the new outhouse. With Marilyn's influence, the new privy soon had a stain glass window and beaded paneling. It was so fancy, they were approached by Texas Country Reporter for a possible segment. The TV people became uninterested when it was discovered that Randy was not mass producing his fancy outhouse.

They began construction of their cabin in Spring of 2005, doing much of the finish work themselves. It has been an ongoing process ever since. Originally, they thought it would only be a weekend home, but soon discovered that they became more and more reluctant to return to their home near Dallas. They moved to Athens lock stock and barrel in 2007 and have never looked back.

Because it had originally been intended as a weekend home for just the two of them, the cabin only contained one bedroom and one bath. After they moved in, it became apparent they would need more rooms and more baths if they were ever to accommodate friends and relatives. After they enlarged their cabin, construction soon began on two guest cottages.

All during construction of their home and the two cottages (or whenever ANY work was done on the property) people would see the rustic charm of the place and ask, "Are you running a bed and breakfast here?" All agreed that it would be a perfect spot and wanted to return if they ever opened one.

Randy and Marilyn loved to stay at bed and breakfasts whenever they traveled either here or abroad. They loved the interaction with different kinds of people and Randy, "the talker", loved the social interchanges with the people he would meet. They also both had a passion for food and Marilyn found to her surprise that she also had a knack for cooking. So, it was a natural progression for them: they would open a bed and breakfast.

Having frequented so many b & bs, they knew what people liked and disliked. Most disliked the lack of privacy and over abundance of frou-frou that seemed disturbingly to dominate many b & bs.

It was fortunate that they had constructed their guest cabins to be sound proof and PRIVATE. Marilyn took great care in decorating each suite; not too austere, not too garish, but she made them pleasing, tasteful and restful retreats.

Oak Creek Bed and Breakfast is now open. Randy and Marilyn Tarin look forward to sharing their little slice of heaven with you and to extending their hospitality to their many new friends that may come and go.

© 2008, OAK CREEK BED & BREAKFAST, L.L.C.