As we toured the cottage the first time, I turned to Kee and breathed, wide-eyed, this could be our bed and breakfast. The two large bedrooms at the end of one wing of the L shaped cottage could be easily - well, theoretically - be made into suites by: (a) closing off the hall door to the big bathroom and opening it to the bedroom through a doorway made in the closet and (b) making the small junk room on the opposite side of the hallway into a bathroom that opened up to the other large bedroom through it's closet.
We could have the far corner of the house, with it's bedroom and three piece bath. Plus, if pressed, the small bedroom would be perfect for a single guest who could share the small bathroom with just us. The totally windowed sunroom would be great for morning breakfasts, the enormous yard - just wonderful for people who liked to sun a bit, read a bit, relax on a small beach.
We'd market to: The Birders, The Butterflyer's, The Black History Buffs (Buxton Settlement isn't far away), The Boozers (oeniphiles), The Bikers (pedal & motor), The Boomers (weekend trippers), The Boaters. The spring, summer and fall on the north shores of Lake Erie are beautiful and activities are endless.
And we'd call it................... Omstead's On Erie.
Doing this, opening this wouldn't be immediate, but it would be on a shared front burner with remodelling. As we move towards retirement, a supplemental, interest income seems like a great idea. We know several important levelling things: we won't get rich doing this; it's not a substitute for a planned retirement income; it wouldn't be steady.
So, as we move through all the renovations the cottage needs anyways, we keep in mind the things a B&B would need - capacity for hot water, bathroom requirements, bedroom set-ups, outside environments, safety features, local governmental requirements...... too, too many minutae to list, but we do have a list that gets added to, crossed off and altered.
I love to cook and feed people, in a social mixing grade, out of 10, we're whatever your average and normal level is - I think we could both welcome guests and maintain a friendly distance. And when we're done with this cottage - in the future - it would be several things to several buyers: a home, a great cottage, a bed and breakfast.... what it'll be to us.
So as Kee builds and rebuilds, I outfit, antique and e-buy.... that's the goal: a calming, friendly, relaxing stay at a beachfront Arts & Crafts, Tudor-Revival, 1930s cottage, on almost an acre of property along Lake Erie, near provincial parks, conservations area, migratory bird and monarch butterfly routes, boutique estate wineries, historic sites and Lake Erie.
Great, another lane added to the learning curve................ website.
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