I've struggled with writing this blog for years. I am by no means a writer, but I've been told writing a blog doesn't have to be hard or time consuming; just write as if I'm having a conversation with our guests. So here goes nothing. I want this blog to be a place where guests (past & future) can come to learn about our area, get to know us and the B&B and to help provide a feeling of comfort and connection to their stay.
Let me start with an introduction.
We are Norm and Laura, the owners and innkeepers of His Majesty's Bed & Breakfast. We are located in the beautiful Grand River Valley Wine Region in Northeast Ohio. Our family consists of three daughters, their husbands and our 5 grandchildren. We started our adventure as innkeepers in 2012.
A little about the B&B.
The house dates back to 1861 when Nathaniel and Mary Holbrook built the center, two story, section of the house. Nathaniel was a pharmacist in Madison. Then in the 1880's the house was sold and what is currently the dining room and kitchen on the North side of the house was added. The final addition, the bedrooms on the South side, were added sometime in the 1920's by the Behm family who also owned what I refer to as "the big white house on Main St." The Behm's have owned the funeral home across the square from the B&B forever and a day. Several years ago, we had a guest whose mother was a friend of Mrs. Behm and gave us some insight into our home. Apparently, our driveway wrapped around the back of our house connecting to the house on Main St. Mrs. Behm also said they would often bring the funeral cars to our property to wash under the trees.
The earliest picture of the B&B we could find is from the 20's after all the additions. I can only image what it must have looked like before then.
I believe we are the 11th, possibly the 12th owners of the property. The last owner to live in the house, Shirley, opened a woman's clothing store (The Curious Cat) on the first floor and lived upstairs. Shirley sold the house to the Loparo's who transformed it into the B&B which opened in 2003.
Three previous owners, that I know of, owned or operated a business in the brick building to the North of the house - the original Madison Exchange Bank. I have tried over the years, to convince Norm that we need to continue the tradition. His response is "the building isn't for sale and we don't need another building anyway." …. but I can dream!
