family nearby consistently was hard for them. Direnzo explained that their families visited from Ontario whenever they could and helped as much as possible, which they were very grateful for. The property needed a lot of work when they first bought it. “We consistently had to put work in. The property was extremely overgrown when we took over the business in October 2021, after the season had ended” Direnzo described. They had many renovations to do outside on the property and inside the cottages. They also immediately had to learn the best way to winterize the
Although cottages were not on Agnes and Ray’s list to buy, they adored the last property they went to view in Nova Scotia. Direnzo said they saw their future there almost instantly. “We fell in love with the property and the potential of what this property could offer. So, we decided to make that huge decision to buy Birch Villa Cottages, which is now Smiths Cove Cottages.” One of the initial challenges Agnes and Ray faced in their new business journey was moving away from their support system. Not having their friends and
52 SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 24 ISSUE 1
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