Welcome to the Doden Home.

 

Daryle and Brenda have called this home during some of the hardest and best parts of their lives. They are proud to be able to open up their doors and share their home with you. Throughout your stay feel free to look around the home and enjoy its many comfortable areas. After all, Daryle and Brenda designed it “to be so warm so that people will want to come in and not leave.”

 

This home has truly been a labor of love for Daryle and Brenda Doden. Its history began in the early 1980s. The Doden's were living in Butler, Indiana, but found themselves spending most of their time in Auburn. They were going to church here, had their business here and many of their friends. It was becoming more of their hometown than Butler, so they decided to do something about it.

 

The Doden's decided to officially move to Auburn and began their search for the perfect place to call home. Daryle found this location and could envision turning into his dream home and a great place for his wife and their five children. 

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At that time, this location was a field filled with wild flowers and tall grasses. They purchased the land and quickly got to work putting their ideas and dreams on paper. They knew they wanted plenty of room for their children, a welcoming kitchen, a place for their love of music and areas to relax with guests.

 

Both Daryle and Brenda grew up with many overnight guests in their homes, many of them missionaries. That had left a lasting impression on them growing up and they wanted their children to also experience that. They took these ideas to a skilled builder and in 1984 ground was broken. The Doden's were still living in Butler at the time and the new house project required both Brenda and Daryle to spend much of their time involved in the construction. Brenda now likes to say that after all of the construction and remodeling they’ve done she has earned her doctorate in home building.

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The home and its many detailed intricacies quickly became a much bigger project than what the Doden's originally envisioned. It took many skilled craftsman and talented artisans to bring their dream together. It also took several years and many sacrifices by the family.

 

About a year and a half after construction started the Doden's sold their Butler home. Since their dream home was no where close to being complete, they brought a mobile home to this property and lived there while construction continued on their future home. As you can probably imagine, it was not an ideal space for seven people. This was also around the time Daryle fell into a deep depression. It was a tough time for the whole family and many questions about the future lingered. Daryle did not know what would happen to his business, they quit any building on the house, and even tried selling the dream home they had been working on.

 

The family continued to live in their trailer and focused their attention on helping each other and Daryle get better. They faced many challenges and much darkness during that time, but in August of 1985 things started to get better. Daryle was recovering from his depression and began to focus his attention back on his family and their home. The Doden family came out of this tough time with a renewed faith and the conclusion that the house would no longer be theirs, but God’s. The house was still far from being done in 1987, but enough of it was finished for the family to move in. The kitchen was complete and the bedrooms were partially done.

 

The Doden's lived there while carpenters continued to work. The family had to be up and out of their rooms at 7:30 each morning so the craftsmen could continue work in the bedrooms. In addition, the house itself still had much work to be done on both the main floor and the basement. Work crews took on the basement next, knowing the detail work of the main floor would be the biggest job yet.

 

Once the basement was finished the family was able to have a family room and a kitchen in their downstairs “Sweet Shoppe.” Daryle and Brenda met at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and spent many of their dates at a local Sweet Shoppe. It was that romantic memory of their early relationship that inspired them to add one to their home. It became quite helpful when they weren’t able to use their main kitchen for quite some time as work on the main floor continued.

 

The entire home was complete in 1992. It had taken nine years for everything to be finished. But the construction did not end there. About ten years later plans were put in place to remodel their kitchen. New construction started in 2003 and it was during this time Daryle and Brenda got the idea of using their home as a retreat center. They had gone to a college reunion and ran into friends who were running retreats for pastors. That retreat center inspired the Doden's to open up their home to guests in order to provide a place of for rest, restoration and growth. So their remodeling project took on a whole new purpose.

 

Their children’s old rooms were turned into suites with private baths. Their garage was turned into a carriage house to accommodate five more guest rooms. And outside work began on a new pool and pool house for guests to enjoy. It all meant another five years of living with construction. The Doden's believe this is part of God’s plan for their home and they are happy to see it used to serve others. They also look forward to one day when they will move out of their home and it will be used full time for retreats.