By Chris Faulkner
Carlie Dunbar grew up in Philadelphia, and his partner Jennifer Sheets grew up in Colorado.
They lived in Denver and Thornton, Colo., before coming to Burlington in late 2022 to start Heritage Gardens Event Center at 620 Washington St.
But Dunbar and Sheets have found Burlington far more appealing than living in the bigger cities.
“The small town aspect, the community piece of it, it feels more, for me, more comfortable,” Dunbar said.
“The big city is the big city. There’s the pace that moves. But we wanted to step down and be able to function and focus on our own business.”
The previous business was also a wedding venue, Majestic Estates. Before that, it was the site of the Art Center of Burlington, but it was built in 1868 as St. Paul’s German Methodist Episcopal Church, and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
In their first full year, Dunbar said they did 35 events, “which is amazing for year one.”
Dunbar said the couple made some major changes to the place.
“This entire lower level has been redone, from the paint, the lighting, the furniture, the bridal and groom suites,” Dunbar said. “The upstairs has been painted as well.”
But the outside beauty of the building “is what attracted us to come here. The infrastructure was already in place,” Dunbar said.
There is also a garden area west of the building. “A lot of couples opt to have their weddings in the garden space and then transition upstairs for the reception,” he said.
The downstairs area is more for smaller parties and receptions. “This is where we can host about a party of 50, so we do a lot of baby showers, graduation parties, and bridal parties,” he said.
“Upstairs we can host 150.”
But Dunbar continued to extol praises on his and Sheets’ new hometown.
They bought the place from Ben Brinck, and Dunbar said he did a “wonderful job as an ambassador,” showing them the positive aspects of the city.
“There’s actually a lot to do,” Dunbar said. “If you think about amenities that were attractive to Jen and me, there’s a lot of golf courses here. There are great restaurants downtown. There is Starr’s Cave Nature Preserve.”
He said, “As you can see, the downtown is happening. We love the small pockets and communities that we’ve learned.”
In some ways, Burlington is not much different than where he grew up.
“Philadelphia is in fact a river town,” Dunbar said. “We have the waterfront, Columbus Boulevard, a lot of old, brick homes. Honestly, transitioning here felt a lot familiar.”
Dunbar owned a wedding venue in Philadelphia.
“It was a very small Vegas-style chapel without Elvis,” he said.
“But we pined for a larger venue, so during our time in Colorado, we were always on the hunt.”