The Sanctuary

The future homesite of The
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary
is currently being built out on 83 acres of land in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

We identified the location of our animal sanctuary property in October of 2020. This lush farmland, located only 15 minutes away from downtown Chapel Hill, boasts several large and open pastures, three small creeks, several rolling hills - and acres and acres of trails and forest. It has always been our intention to work with the land as we create this place of hope and healing for animals in need of refuge to connect with children living in at-risk and underserved communities.

Since the very beginning, all clearing out of old brush, on-surface and buried trash and invasive plants and trees has been done with an eye on conserving the bucolic, natural beauty of this property. We feel strongly about conservation and green building. Our goal is to build out the entire sanctuary village as environmentally responsibly as possible. That means being fully solar-powered, implementing systems for the reuse of rain and waste water, and incorporating a multitude of energy efficient resources. It means staying away from harsh chemicals and pesticides when developing our landscape, including planting natural pest deterrents on some parts of the land and fortifying designated habitat areas for pollinators on other parts of the land. And it means educating visiting communities on the merits of conservation and environmental responsbility through our outdoor youth programs and our ongoing development of on-site educational resources.

There is so very much to go - but see how far we've come to date.

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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary From Ford Road

Since identifying the location of our animal sanctuary property in October of 2020, we have accomplished a lot of work. We started with 83 acres of completely undeveloped land.

To date we have now:

  • Completed full civil engineering, cleared and prepared the land, and tested soil and water
  • Designed infrastructure across the entire property
  • Cleared, built and received town approval of our new road’s official name (Sanctuary Lane!)
  • Received bona fide farm certification and acquired all necessary permits
  • Built our first 50' x 36' outdoor Events & Youth Development Programs Pavilion
  • Designed, cleared and built a parking area for an estimated 200 people
  • Fully designed our Welcome and Pet Adoption Center and procured all building structure supplies
  • Completed a year-long full septic design and began installation of our septic system (now 90% complete!)
  • Created four miles of walking trails through pastures and forest
  • Designed, received, and completed additional work on our animal rescue vet clinic, commencing full clinic operations at the sanctuary
  • Brought full Solar Power to the Sanctuary!
  • Dug a well and found water at 362 feet - built a well house, added a water pump, connected to solar electricity and treated the water!
  • Identified and prepared designated youth program development locations across the property
  • Broken ground, laid out core plumbing, and poured concrete slab for our Welcome and Pet Adoption Center
  • Started initial design of The House of Dogs
  • Erected the framework, siding and roofing and installed the windows for our Welcome and Pet Adoption Center!
  • Finalized the design of our Sanctuary Cat Cafe, Lounge & Garden
  • Built a set of custom stairs linking our Welcome Center to Our Cafe Cafe, Lounge & Garden
  • All electrical rough-in has been permitted and has passed inspection
  • All HVAC, including the ductwork and compressors, has been fully installed
  • Drywall has been installed on all the walls and ceilings and waterproof Hardie Board has been installed in all animal care areas.

September 2024 - January 2025 Update!

Exciting Progress at Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary!

Between August and January we completed an incredible amount of work as we built out our animal sanctuary!

We have:

  • Insulated all 60 windows to improve energy efficiency and comfort.
  • Installed sheetrock and pet-resistant Hardie board in key areas, ensuring durability and compliance with required impervious surfaces.
  • Completed final construction of the well house and installed a water filtration system to ensure clean, reliable water for our animals and staff.
  • Built custom stairs on-site to enhance accessibility.
  • Designed interior rooms and areas for multipurpose use, maximizing our ability to support animals, fosters, adopters, and the community.
  • Negotiated (and renegotiated!) HVAC installation throughout the Center and Cat Cafe to keep our space comfortable year-round.
  • Completed the electrical rough-in—an essential milestone!
  • Upgraded drainage systems in our animal care suites to make cleaning easier for staff and volunteers.
  • Built storage rooms and designated space for our solar batteries, as our solar panels will soon be mounted to the roof—bringing us one step closer to sustainable, energy-efficient operations!
  • Readied all of our selected lighting for installation—including exterior gooseneck lights, ceiling fans, sconces, pendant lighting, and more—to brighten up the sanctuary inside and out!
  • Added a dedicated pet washing and grooming area—because after washing thousands of animals in any way we could, we knew it was time to make this essential part of care even better for both our team and the animals.

And one of our biggest achievements? We have officially completed the build out of six individual care suites, including two adoption lounges for our community to further connect with the many orphaned kittens and puppies we will care for at the sanctuary. These dedicated spaces provide a safe, comfortable, and nurturing environment for our youngest rescues as they prepare for their forever homes. We also cleared all the rough ground and have begun landscaping around the building, ready to add the first touches of greenery and beauty to the sanctuary grounds. It’s been an industrious few months, and we couldn’t be more excited about the progress! Every step we take brings us closer to fully realizing our vision: a sanctuary where animals in need receive the care, love, and second chances they deserve. A huge thank you to our incredible supporters, volunteers, and donors who make this possible - we can’t wait to share even more updates soon!

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August, 2024 Update!

In early 2021 we had purchased an exceptionally used tractor - as in over 50 years' used. We got it for a wonderful price, and it served its usefulness - but working to fix it again and again finally proved to be too difficult. Although we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow tractor time from from some very generous people multiple times, we finally realized that we most definitely needed to finally get on our own. August marked our very first month with our new (much-less used) tractor, which has served us quite well so far!

We also laid out some new concrete pads, built a new well house, and got started on electrical work throughout the Welcome & Pet Adoption Center.

Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Cat Cafe Chapel Hill
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Build Chapel Hill
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Entrance Chapel Hill
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Vet Clinic
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July, 2024 Update!

We spent this month installing the framing we needed to finally hang drywall! This was an extensive process, so we are thrilled to finally be done with that part. In addition, we laid out the decking for the beautiful upstairs patio that overlooks some incredible views across our sanctuary.

Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Patio
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Cat Cafe view
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Cat Cafe
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Cat Cafe
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June, 2024 Update!

One of the first things we did when starting interior work in the Welcome & Pet Adoption Center was to insulate it. This was quite an effort given the the height of this building - but it's something that will pay off for years to come.

We also laid down the flooring for the Cat Cafe & Lounge!! It's amazing to see how it clearly shapes the entire space, so we can better visualize how that 1700 square foot lounge will look when it is fully built out.

Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, photo Tamara Lackey
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, NC, photo Tamara Lackey
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, NC, photo Tamara Lackey

May, 2024 Update!

Finishing the exterior build of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center, we got started on the interior build by readying it to be insulated. We also formally buried the water lines from our activated well to our vet clinic and to our Welcome Center!

As our vet clinic continues to be busier, we doubled our solar power capabilities, adding 100% more solar panels that are currently positioned in a pasture, to be relocated onto the roof of our main building when it is time. We also finished pulling grid power to the sanctuary! Although we are running our sanctuary on solar power, we want to have grid power ready for backup purposes should we need it. Erecting electrical poles at the edge of our property, we chose to bury the power lines that reach across our property to reach our sanctuary village!

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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Electricity
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Solar Power Electricity
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Electricity
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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Electricity

April, 2024 Update!

We continued our build of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center, finished the roofing, and started the build out of the lean-to sides to create additional programming spaces and outdoor enrichment areas for the animals. We also cleared more of the outdoor area behind the center, in order to start landscaping our activity center, welcomed more volunteers who helped to beautify our space, and continued to activate our well!

Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Chapel Hill
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March, 2024 Update!

We made significant progress on the build of our 6,700 sq ft. indoor/outdoor Welcome & Pet Adoption Center in March and designed our Sanctuary Cat Cafe & Lounge! We now have the siding up, the roof on, and our windows installed. As we continue to build out our outdoor components, we are also preparing to dry in the interior!

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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, NC
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, NC
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Welcome Center Interior

February, 2024 Update!

We finalized the framework, started placing siding and framed out all the sections for the windows. There will be a LOT of windows, as we designed this space to very much feel like you are connected to the beautiful farmland that is home to Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary. Next up we finish placing the siding, put up the roof, and we start to place the windows!

Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Chapel Hill
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Chapel Hill
Welcome & Pet Adoption Center Tamara Lackey Nikon Z8
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary Chapel Hill
Welcome & Pet Adoption Center Tamara Lackey Nikon Z8

January, 2024 Update!
We received the framework that we have meticulously designed over the past year and we currently have a team on the ground building the steel structure of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center! Given that it is winter, we are expecting plenty of stops and starts due to weather. But we will keep pushing ahead each and every day.

November/December, 2023 Update!

We poured concrete for the foundation slab of our Welcome Center! We'd had to reschedule this quite a few times because of excessively rainy weather - but then were blessed with a full week of dry sunshine, and our awesome construction crew worked from dawn until way past dark, laying down a perfect slab on which we will build the center, along with a front and back patio. We also set up all or our plumbing and drainage areas to enable all of our operations within the center.

Next up is building the Welcome Center structure where we can greet our community, offer pet care education, host a variety of youth programs, volunteer orientation programs, foster care appreciation events, community programs and much more! This will also be where we can offer an interim space for homeless pets and their puppies or kittens to have a quite place to decompress. Mamas who have given birth in the shelter need to be pulled as soon as possible as overcrowded shelters can be quite dangerous for vulnerable puppies and kittens. Having a quiet area for them, a safe harbor after the stress of the shelter, allows us to care for them medically and give them the attention and affection they deserve, while also working to find them foster homes - and then permanent homes - once the babies are a little older.

Construction at Beautiful Together
Concrete at Beautiful Together
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Pouring Concrete Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary
Concrete at Night

October, 2023 Update!

We have BROKEN GROUND for the Welcome Center at Beautiful Together! We stood there and cheered as the footprint for the building clearly emerged. From there we packed the ground and laid out the plumbing - next up, we pour concrete!

Before the Ground Breaking
mid ground break at beautiful together
after ground break

September, 2023 Update!

We are officially SOLAR POWERED at Beautiful Together, and we could not be more excited about it! Since Day One, we have made it our mission to build out our property with as much of an eye on green building and conservation as possible, so to be able to power our entire clinic operations at the sanctuary with solar power is a huge win for us. We will continue to build out all additional structures at the sanctuary with solar power, along with additional eco-friendly power generating methods, too.

We have also further beautifying our grounds - from planting new grasses and flowering plants to setting up a covered outside area, adding bright and colorful picnic tables, benches and more. We fully welcome volunteers to help us build out our sanctuary property! More updates to come but, after three years of working on all the invisible infrasture parts that enable us to finally build all the visible parts of our sanctuary, we are thrilled to be fully solar powered!

Solar Power, Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Photo Tamara Lackey
Volunteers at Beautiful Together
Planting at Beautiful Together
Building Clinic at Beautiful Together
tiny house vet clinic
Beautiful Together Front Porch
Beautiful Together Clinic Welcome Dog
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, farmland
Artist Rendering of Beautiful Together's Welcome Center
Evening Construction, Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Trailer, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Marking
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, land in Chapel Hill
Building out Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary
Puppy in The Grass. Rescue Pup, Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Rescue Pup, Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Photo by Tamara Lackey
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Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, land in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, animal rescue, Chapel Hill property, photography Tamara Lackey
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Rescue Dogs on the sanctuary land
Beautiful Together _ Tamara Lackey
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