GUILFORD – Wendy and Michael Denney provided Victorian elegance to the discerning traveler at Guilford Bed and Breakfast on Elm Street for three years. They love meeting new people and offer their guests the opportunity to relax, rejuvenate and rehearse.
GUILFORD – Wendy and Michael Denney provided Victorian elegance to the discerning traveler at Guilford Bed and Breakfast on Elm Street for three years. They love meeting new people and offer their guests the opportunity to relax, rejuvenate and rehearse.
“I’ve always wanted a Victorian mansion. When we moved to Salem, Oregon, I was pretty much relegated to ‘I’ll never own a Victorian mansion,'” Wendy said on a recent afternoon. She said he A dozen years ago, she and her husband had escaped the heat and humidity of Florida where they met by moving to the Pacific Northwest.
In Oregon, they operated their own Airbnb for several years, which they loved because they developed a taste for hosting travelers, but only had one room to rent. The Denneys needed a bigger place to operate a proper bed and breakfast, and with real estate prices in the western part of the country being too high, they looked elsewhere.
After looking at more than a dozen potential homes in the northeast, they found Guilford Bed and Breakfast, which turned out to be the perfect home for their vision. The Denneys — the family includes Snickers, their rescue dog Entlebucher who greets arriving visitors —. opened their doors on May 15, 2019.
“Our target market is older people like us and they tend to be well educated and professional. We have fantastic conversations with them,” Wendy said.
“It’s not just people looking for a place to sleep on the bed,” Michael added.
She said it’s fine if some guests are away for most of their waking hours, “but it’s fun to connect with people.” You’re not just a number and a name like in some big hotels.
MURAL – Artist Lydia Spencer has painted a 15-foot-long mural at Guilford Bed and Breakfast. To the right is the Norse goddess Frigg.
“I like to treat them special on their getaways because that might be the only time they’re here,” Wendy said.
She also enjoys learning new things from her guests and has mentioned having healthy cooking oil conversions with a nutritionist who has previously stayed with them.
Wendy said she and Michael grew up in Pennsylvania, so they liked to find connections with guests’ ties to that part of the country, as well as Florida and Oregon. “Mike being in the military, he gets to connect with people,” she said of that shared experience (Guilford Bed and Breakfast offers a military discount).
Michael served from 1987 to 1999, which included two stints in the U.S. Army with time in the National Guard in between. “My first job was in Germany, I loved it – the Nuremberg area. Then I came back to the States for a few years, as Wendy said, and then I got out and did the National Guard in Florida. I went back and did a tour in Korea and then I got out of there. And a few posts in the United States, Colorado, Texas.
AT THE TOP OF THE HILL – The Guilford Bed and Breakfast was built at the turn of the 20th century. The National Register of Historic Places listing process is underway and owners Wendy and Michael Denny are working on a document with photos showing all previous owners.
Perched on top of a hill, the Guilford Bed and Breakfast is a Victorian mansion built at the turn of the 20th century. Five guest rooms can accommodate 12 people. Wendy said she is working to get the residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Denneys are putting together a historical document showing all the owners, starting in 1866, when Henry Hudson Sr. owned the property overlooking the Piscataquis River.
Four bedrooms are on the second floor, each with its own bathroom and distinct features, including names such as Cummings and Isobel for historic and newer owners, respectively. A fifth guest bedroom is located on the third floor.
“I’d rather it be as historic (as possible) and people like that,” Wendy said. She said there were no TVs in the bedrooms, but there was one downstairs with a projector screen for movies.
The first floor includes a formal dining room, living room and guest library.
“It’s one of my favorite places, especially in the winter,” Wendy said of the library. “If it’s the weekend and Mike isn’t working (at DuvalTex), we grab our coffee and come here to relax. I’ve always wanted a library, and few homes have a library.
She said the fireplace in the library “is probably the most unique feature in the house.” The interior features an image of Odin, the Norse god of war, and two panels of hieroglyphs.
“We don’t know what those hieroglyphs mean and if there’s a story to it, but that’s the image that’s out there,” she said.
“We had water damage a few months ago and couldn’t replace the wallpaper, so I had to come up with another plan,” Wendy said. “I decided to get a local artist to paint a mural that would match the picture in the fireplace, which was original in the house.”
She said she met artist Lydia Spencer through Monson Arts. In about two weeks, Spencer painted a 15-foot-long mural on the second floor, which features Odin’s wife Frigg and the Norse god on horseback as part of the mural.
By Wendy’s blog on the Guilford Bed and Breakfast website, Frigg is a goddess associated with fertility, marriage and the home, love and sexuality, wisdom, prophecy, foresight and divination. In modern terms, Frigg was an intelligent, capable, and multi-tasking woman, deeply attuned to her intuitive nature. Balancing all of her roles shouldn’t have been easy, but she managed with a little help from her friends.
Wendy said there was a realistic sense of balance in Spencer. “She’s not just an artist, but also a business woman and very professional in every way,” Wendy wrote. “How lucky I am to have found a modern-day Frigg to hire for this project.”
Grant funds helped the Denneys update the private kitchen downstairs, including new cabinets, pantry, new stove and double ovens.
She likes to offer a different breakfast every morning in the dining room. “Usually every other morning I make a sweet breakfast, then the next day will be more salty, so no guest will ever have the same breakfast two days in a row,” she said. had before.
The Guilford Bed and Breakfast does not have a set menu, but guests identify food sensitivities and aversions on their registration form and this information is used to develop breakfast plans.
The previous owners had planned to run the establishment for 10 years and they ended up staying for 12 years. “I think our goal is probably 10 years as well,” Wendy said.
She said she would like to organize more activities there, such as the monthly “Evening with an Artist”.
“We’re always looking for what else we can do to make a better living,” Wendy said.
The Guilford Bed and Breakfast is located at 24 Elm Street. For more information, call 207-876-3477 or visit https://www.guilfordbnb.com Where https://www.facebook.com/Guilfordbnb.
Comments are closed.