Local Love: Ryan & Brianne Verstat
Welcome to another article in our series, #locallove where we feature High Point families and what they love about living in our amazing city.
Today we will be featuring our good friends and High Point aficionados, Brianne and Ryan Verstat!
Brianne is an alumnus of High Point University (’02). She has been working with Barbour Spangle Design since her graduation and lived in High Point until meeting Ryan in 2006. Ryan originally came to High Point in 2006 from Milwaukee as the project manager to build the iconic glass canopies over the Mendenhall Bus Terminal on Commerce Street. During his temporary time in High Point they met and fell in love. Theirs is a great true love story…
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. Why did you and Ryan land in High Point?
A. We lived in Winston Salem for several years but decided to come back to High Point 3 ½ years ago. That was when all the talk started getting louder among the city and citizens regarding a big change happening in High Point whether that be Downtown or Uptown. We wanted to be a part of that. We also feel in love with our historic home and the idea of being closer to work.
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. Why do you love High Point?
A. High Point is a hub of creativity, thinkers and now –more than ever– doers! It’s exciting to be part of the change and growth happening in this great city!
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. What is special about your neighborhood?
A. In the Johnson St Historic District, the historic 100-year-old homes and canopies of old trees have stories to tell. One of the most appealing parts of moving here is that we can walk just a few blocks to 10 (soon to be 11) local restaurants, Brown Truck Brewery, the bank, a spa, local shops, the library, Krispy Kreme and now 83 Custom Coffee!
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. What is one tip you can share as a local?
A. Slow down, look around, take it all in. We have amazing architecture, an abundance of creative talent and a small town vibe with international flare. The sense of community is huge if you embrace it!
For the Win: Being centrally located, we can be enjoy the fresh mountain air or feel the sand between our toes in the matter of just a few hours! The option to enjoy different flavors, cultures and experiences is just a short road trip away.
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. Can you describe your perfect High Point day?
A. Walking down Main Street- Breakfast at Tom’s or 83 Custom Coffee; then browsing Grassy Knoll, Sunrise Books and Just Priceless on the way to a massage at About Face; finally, an afternoon beer on the patio at Brown Truck Brewery and dinner at Fixin’s.
Photography by ZoZo Photography
Q. Favorite Restaurant?
A. Bri: Fixin’s Ryan: The Dog House
Q. Place to grab a drink?
Q. Hidden Secret?
A. All of our favorite local spots! If you slow down on Main Street, you would be amazed at what High Point has to offer!
Q. Best Shop?
A. The Market (make sure you grab a piece of cake while you are there! Yum!)
There’s a lot to love about the Verstat family (especially that cutie who celebrates her first birthday soon…don’t you think?!) Lucky for all of us, both Ryan and Bri are enthusiastic High Point citizens, committed to improving the lives of everyone in the community.
Local Love is a series where High Point Discovered speaks to families throughout our community who have chosen to live in the city of High Point and take advantage of all the amenities small town living with an international flair provides. We hope you will be inspired to investigate more. Past guests have included Maria and Taylor West.
Do you know someone we should feature on our Local Love series? We would love to hear from you! Reach out through our contact page or comment on any of our Instagram posts. And speaking of Instagram…our goal is to reach 10k followers in order to spread the love of High Point more quickly. That’s less than 10% of our population. Will you help us reach that goal? Check out our Instagram page here and tag anyone you know who may enjoy all the great stories we are sharing.
Discover our High Points,
The HP Discovered Team