Margot Hill in Malakoff Is a Dream Come True

Are you ready to ditch it all and move to the country, but you’re not sure how to make it work? I’ve got the answer, and it’s this beautiful Malakoff property that comes with a successful event venue and wedding chapel on a smidge over 39 acres. Margot Hill is heaven for anyone who has the heart of a host and wants to leave city life behind!

Abby and Logan Misegades were destined for this lifestyle. Logan’s family runs a bed-and-breakfast hotel in France, so hospitality is in his DNA. When he married Abby, who just happened to be a genius at marketing and events, it was indeed a perfect match. After they married, they put everything in storage and high-tailed it to France to immerse themselves in the family business. Two years and one baby later, they decided to move back to Texas and try their hand at hospitality here.

“That’s when the idea of owning a wedding venue was born,” Abby said.

Abby’s mom was looking for a lake house before the pandemic, and this property popped up as a residential listing. Her stepdad called her and said, “I found your project!”

“We saw the listing and started dreaming about the potential,” Abby said. “We thought, what’s the harm in going to look at it? Of course, we fell in love with it the moment we saw it.”

They were attracted to the existing main residence, which spans 3,524 square feet with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a private guest suite, and a swimming pool with a covered outdoor living area. But the deal-sealer was a large building that could be deployed as an event venue.

The couple realized people could get married outside by the two-acre lake, but with Texas weather, it was important to have a climate-controlled ceremony space.

“I sketched a little modern white chapel on a napkin, and we brought it to life,” Abby said. “In East Texas, there are a lot of rustic Joanna Gaines-style venues, but I wanted something more industrial modern with clean lines.”

She designed a 3,220-square-foot chapel building with an expansive main room with polished concrete floors, two additional rooms with bathrooms, and a half-bath in the vestibule.

The event space is next door, with a 3,284-square-foot main room featuring cathedral ceilings and LED lighting. The building also includes a kitchen, two restrooms, and a mechanical room. Two sets of sliding doors open onto a 1,456-square-foot covered outdoor area, and more doors at the back lead to a 1,967-square-foot patio. The main room is equipped with a projector, screen, and speakers both inside and in the outdoor entertainment area. Additional property features include a 1,000-square-foot shop building and various agricultural outbuildings.

Margot Hill was born during the pandemic when gatherings were limited. But love finds a way!

“Our first event was a 10-person elopement, then we grew organically,” Abby said. “We started getting a huge influx of brides from Dallas because a lot of Dallas girls grew up going to Cedar Creek Lake, which is five minutes away. We market it as a destination wedding without the plane ticket!”

There are a lot of Airbnbs in the area, so families and friends can book those and stay for the weekend. There is also great talent in East Texas, so there are plenty of florists, caterers, and photographers.

One of the beautiful aspects of Margot Hill is how relationship-oriented the business quickly became.

“We have become friends with so many of our brides,” Abby said. “Two brides even named their daughters Margot!”

The venue has been incredibly successful, once clocking 55 weddings in a single year. With weekends scoring multiple bookings across the seasons, it’s become challenging as the Misegades’ kids grow older.

“We have track meets and cheerleading competitions we want to attend as a family and want to reclaim our nights and weekends while the kids are young,” Abby said.

“We will probably do another wedding venue again when we are empty nesters, which was the original plan,” she said. “There is so much potential here. We have had so many ideas, including building casitas on the property. I hope that we pass the baton to someone to continue the legacy.”

What a wonderful opportunity to escape city life and make a great living at Margot Hill!

Anna Barber and Amy Filley of the Heritage Group, with Dave Perry-Miller, have Margot Hill at 12001 State Hwy 31 W in Malakoff available for $2.195 million.