Our Story

Ideally, we’d love to sit with each of you,

share our sweet story, and drink a delicious cup of hot tea… but unfortunately time will not allow us this simple pleasure. In a world full of social media and busy schedules, if feels like we no longer have the time to sit down and enjoy each other’s company. So what to do about it? Open a tea room! We wanted to slow things down a bit and take back some of those precious moments time steals away.

If you come to our tea room, you’re in for a real treat! Let’s have some good, relaxing, happy conversations over a steaming pot of soothing tea. Whether you take your tea with honey, sugar, one lump or two, let’s slow things down a bit and enjoy a cup or maybe even two!

So many of our friends ask, “Why the pickup truck and tea?”

Well… When I was growing up the pink and blue rose china now located in the “Rose Room” was on display in our house. My father, Ronnie Powers, purchased this china for my mother, Linda, when I was about seven years old. We never used that china, but enjoyed the warmth of looking at it. That was my first encounter with delicate plates and cups and I’ve been in love ever since.

My father worked so hard to provide nice things for our family. He drove a dump truck, which was seasonal work, so in the winter months he would drive that old red pickup truck and scrap metal. That truck would be so loaded down with junk that when my sister and I would got to school we’d be so embarrassed that we asked him to drop us off a block down the road. Of course, he never would! I was a Daddy’s girl who loved her dad, and today we totally embrace our childhood and that old pickup truck.

We are so thankful for his hard work. My sister and I would have loved to share this place with our parents, but they both passed away in their 50s, within two years of each other, both from cancer. Honoring our parents is one of our biggest goals.

The Rustic Root opened in August 2015.

I always told my husband when I retired I wanted to open a little shop. He encouraged me not to bother waiting for retirement and just do it now. The small retail shop was originally located in Beech Grove on Main Street close to the post office. When the current space became available and all I could see were the large display windows and the space to open an even larger shop. Also connected to the space was a donut shop with a commercial kitchen. The thought of having a tea room connected to the retail space was a dream of mine for many years. After all, what could be better than having a space filled with some of my favorite things?

We opened the tea room in February 2017 and shortly after opening, we had to add additional seating, which is now the “Rose Room.” When we decided to add the extra space to the tea room we designed the Rose Room around the pattern on my mother’s china. A beautiful piece of her memory is now in our shop, they would be so proud!

I’m so thankful to work every day with my only sister, Jenny. We savor the time, share conversations, and talk about happy things every day in this special place. From the delicate china we use, to the traces of red pickup trucks sprinkled throughout our shop, we love everything about our tea room, and we hope you do too!

We are so glad you are here, and when you visit remember;

“Come in as a guest, but leave as a friend.”

Giving God All the Glory,

Tammy Hanna & Jenny Wensel