Meet the Innkeepers…………..

It’s hard to imagine now, but in 1981 Dennis was a mechanical engineer in Indianapolis and Bonnie was a jewelry designer and a batik artist. What they both wanted was to work together in a business that combined their special and complementary talents. During a trip through Kentucky, they toured an old mansion, and seeing the possibilities in that old house sparked an idea of creating a bed and breakfast and becoming innkeepers.

After a search through New England failed to produce the right house or the perfect town, they returned to the Midwest. They visited Michigan but didn’t find anything there either. Finally, some friends from Wisconsin suggested that they return to their home state of Wisconsin and investigate Door County. In early 1982, Dennis and Bonnie walked through a dilapidated Queen Anne Victorian in Sturgeon Bay and knew they had found their dream house and location.

They closed on what is now the Main House on April 22, 1982. Less than three months later, on July 1, 1982, the White Lace Inn opened its newly painted doors to its first guests. Dennis and Bonnie enjoy telling the story of their opening day. They got their license at 5:00 PM that day and rented their first room – Room 2 – that night. The next evening they rented Rooms 1, 2, 4 and 5. And the rest, as they say, is history.

On July 22, 1983, Dennis and Bonnie purchased an 1880’s house that was about to be torn down and moved it to their property – literally parking it in their backyard where the gazebo now stands. They set the house on its new foundation in November of that year. In January of 1984, they embarked on a major renovation. In the ensuing months, they rebuilt the house, filled it with wonderful antiques and rich wallpapers and fabrics, and opened the Garden House on June 28, 1984. The Washburn House with its three large rooms and one suite was added on August 15, 1986. Finally, the Hadley House was finished on July 4, 1996, adding four large suites and bringing the total number of rooms to 18.

Much of the mature landscaping which is so much a part of the Inn’s charm was started in 1988, including the plantings and white picket fence that run along the front of the Main House. In 1989, the white picket privacy fence behind the Garden House was constructed.

And in 1990, Dennis & Bonnie added a lovely white gazebo which, amid the backdrop of the lush gardens and pond, has been the site of intimate weddings.

Somewhere in the midst of all the remodeling, maintenance, decorating and gardening, Dennis and Bonnie have also found time for a full and rewarding family life. Their children, Zane and Alexa are familiar faces at the Inn as they help out on occasion during breakfast or delight the guests with a tune on the antique Steinway piano in the parlor.