Mary Dragon, owner of The Barn Nutrition & Fitness, wanted to make a difference after her bodybuilding days ended while living in Florida, so she returned to the area she grew up. It didn’t take too long before she and now fiancée Brad Hontz, a former professional wrestler, got together to make Dragon’s dreams come true.
The Barn Nutrition & Fitness has been named Best Fitness Facility and Hontz has been named Best Fitness Instructor in the 2019 Best of the Back Mountain Readers’ Contest.
A few years ago after meeting, the two started out taking what they already knew about fitness and began training a Dallas High School track athlete out of their home.
“Once we started training the young lady, she told her family and they started coming to our house and, before you knew it, the word spread like wildfire,” Hontz said. “It was to the point where we had 1,500 people coming to our house on a small dead end road and we know we ruffled some of the neighbors’ feathers so we decided to look for a facility.”
When the barn at 100 E. Overbrook Road in Dallas became empty, the two debated whether it was actually big enough for what they wanted to do.
“We got a call from the real estate agent who told us to get to the property to see it,” Hontz said. “The agent said it’s more than what you think from the outside.”
Eventually, the pair did look at the former chocolate factory and was pleasantly surprised.
“When we were walking in the door, I could see the wheels spinning in Mary’s head,” Hontz added. “We hired all the contractors from in-house and we in-house networked; they put together the barn pretty much what Mary’s mind was thinking.”
Hontz, 53, admits, the barn isn’t perfect with out of plumb walls. “Nothing is square but it all works; hey, it’s a barn.”
The three-story structure is a fitness center, complete with high-tech treadmills, rowers, spinning bikes and even punching bags.
The Barn Nutrition & Fitness is a cross between physical fitness and nutrition with a two-building complex. One building allows members to work out while the other offers the latest in nutritional foods and supplements. Dragon holds classes, teaching clients all about nutrition.
This is second time Hontz has been awarded Best Fitness Instructor and the second time The Barn Nutrition & Fitness has taken the Best Fitness Facility.
For further information, call 570-255-4175.
