The Bell House Inn Family & the Family Business

by Nancy Turner • Glens Falls TODAY

hat would we do without our family? Have you noticed how DNA will all of a sudden show up in unusual ways as we go through life? Who are we and how did we become who we are? For instance, my mom was a wonderful hostess. We always had company for Sunday dinner and had family and friends in and out of our house on other days of the week. I know I inherited my mom’s hospitality skills. My father was an entrepreneur, he owned a confectionery store where he made and sold, retail and wholesale, ice cream and other confections. Bill came from a family history of business owners and lumbermen. From this he was a quick learner in building, plumbing and electrical, also in creativity and architecture.

In 2002, as I turned 50 years old, I decided I wanted to become an innkeeper. I didn’t romanticize the job. I knew it would be hard work. I had no thoughts of sitting in the evenings with my guests sharing a bottle of wine. Although it did happen occasionally! My friends and family continually asked why we would want strangers staying in our home. But that aspect of the business didn’t bother us. So, we began to move ahead with plans. We found a house that would work as a bed and breakfast inn and began renovations. As we finished our guest room renovations we realized that they each needed a name and a personality. When we first opened we had 4 guest rooms and thought, ‘we had 4 grandmothers.’ We decided it would be a nice tribute to these women to name our guest rooms after them. My grandmothers were Sadie & Lillian, Bill’s were Florence & Beatrice.

I decorated the rooms to match their individual personalities. The project of renovating and decorating took a year to complete. Then we opened our door to guests. I really had no idea what I was doing but plunged ahead. This was before social media so the only way to get the word out was with a website and word of mouth.

We found out as time went on what worked and what didn’t. We learned how to balance our privacy with guests in the house. The first important thing we learned was to put locks on our doors that separated our private space and guest space. Signage was also important. We put up signage stating when we were not available to our guests unless it was an emergency.

We were able to make this bed and breakfast inn a successful business and ran it for 12 years. In addition to running the bed and breakfast we began to offer afternoon tea to the public. This started an avalanche of parties, dinners, showers and weddings. I took on a new role of event planner!

Then our life took on a new course and we became grandparents. Our daughter and her husband lived in Glens Falls. I wanted to be able to have quality time with my new granddaughter and offered to be her caregiver while mom and dad worked. I traveled back and forth to Glens Falls, it was about an hour and fifteen minute drive. I would stay for the week leaving Bill to run the bed and breakfast and his retail business.

Then our second ‘Glens Falls grandchild’ was born and Bill and I started to think about selling and moving to be closer to the grandkids.

We made the decision to put our house on the market. When it sold we began looking for a property in Glens Falls to do a startup bed and breakfast inn. We needed to find a property that was in a lightcommercial zone and could accommodate not just guest rooms, a dining room and a gathering room for guests but also a living area for us. NYS law states that someone, either the owner or a hired innkeeper, lives on the property. There was not much inventory on the market for us to consider but decided that the house on the corner of Bay and Sanford was a good choice. We closed on the property March 2015, began renovations and opened for business in July of 2016. We brought our grandmothers with us by continuing to use their names for our guest rooms. When we added a fifth guest room it was named for my mother Dorothy.

We are now in our 7th year of innkeeping in Glens Falls. We love our community and our guests. We enjoy playing concierge, sending our guests to our downtown restaurants, museums, theaters, shopping and sports. Or, sending them off to the Saratoga Race Course or experiencing beautiful Lake George. We are also so incredibly lucky to have the support of our Glens Falls family and friends. Thank you, mom and dad, for gifting me with your wonderful DNA. I will continue to stay true to who I am.