Celia Marchbanks
Executive Director
Celia grew up three blocks from the Hartwell House and used to sell Girl Scout cookies on its porch. She came home in 2009 after twenty years in hotel management in Houston and has run Dogwood Lane ever since.
Our people
Meet our team
Nurses, cooks, gardeners, a chaplain and the woman who has poured tea at three o'clock for nineteen years.
Our team
The people who keep the kettle on
Janelle Okafor, RN
Director of Wellness
Janelle spent fifteen years as a nurse at a Tyler hospital. She runs the wellness office, teaches the balance class and has a gift for explaining a new prescription in plain English.
Rosa Villanueva
Executive Chef
Rosa cooked in East Texas restaurants for twenty years. She writes the menu around what the farmers market has, and her peach cobbler has started at least one marriage proposal in the dining room.
Rev. Samuel Achebe
Chaplain
Pastor Sam leads Sunday hymn sing and weekday chapel, visits anyone who asks and keeps the door of the little chapel open all day. He is as comfortable with a Catholic rosary as a Baptist hymnal.
Adrienne Price
Life Enrichment Director
Adrienne books the recitals, runs the garden club and plans the outings. She once got forty residents onto a vintage train for a dogwood ride without losing a single hat.
Marisol Grant
Community Relations Director
Marisol gives most of our tours and answers most of our phone calls. She will tell you plainly what things cost and which cottage gets the best morning light.
Walter Ames
Facilities and Grounds Director
Walter has looked after the Hartwell House since its restoration. He knows every window sash, every pipe and every dogwood on the lane by its age.
Daniel Ruiz, PT
Therapy Clinic Director
Daniel runs the on-site therapy clinic for a local provider. He helps residents get back on their feet after a fall or a new hip, without leaving the property.
Marcus Cole
Concierge and Transportation
Marcus keeps the front desk, the car schedule and the mail running on time. He also knows which Tyler specialists run late and plans the drive accordingly.
Sample family reviews
Kind words from our families
Mother said she would only leave her house on Crawford Street if she could still have a garden and a proper tea. She has both, and she's president of the garden club.
We were married in 1961 under a dogwood tree in Fairfield. When we saw the lane in bloom, we signed the papers that afternoon.
Tea at three sounds fussy until you do it. Now it's the best hour of my day. I've met everybody here over a cup of Earl Grey.
Dad had a fall in his cottage and was back home within the week, doing therapy across the courtyard instead of driving to Tyler. Janelle called me every single day.
I brought my piano. Everyone told me I couldn't. Walter and three movers got it into the parlor, and now I play for the Friday music nights.
The staff knew my mother's name, her hymn and her tea order before she'd unpacked. We live in Atlanta, and that is the only reason we can sleep at night.
After my husband died I thought I'd sit in the house and wait. Here I have a chair on the porch, a bridge partner and a reason to get dressed every morning.
It's the prettiest place in Palestine in April and the friendliest the rest of the year.
Pastor Sam sat with my father every evening his last week in the hospital. He wasn't asked to. That tells you everything about this place.
Marisol told us the truth about what it would cost and what wasn't included. No pressure, no surprises. We moved in three months later.
Come sit on the porch a while.
Call or text Celia, or book a tour online. In spring, ask for the dogwood walk.