BNB VACATION ROOMS FOR RENT By Mike Austin
nasstop@yahoo.com
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I.
The classified posting was simple and the location was convenient. The details are:
Converted 3 bedroom, 2 bath, full eat-in kitchen, separate living room guest house, 2 miles south of county road 212 on Main Street- overlooking Lake Thompson, Willsport. Available as a Vacation Bed N Breakfast by the week or as temporary lodging for Marina or Clubhouse employees. Located 2 blocks from the Lake Thompson Marina and Clubhouse. For additional information and rates send an email to Pete@vbnbr.com.
My name is Pete Hendricks and I own the guest house with my partner, Martin Jacks. I inherited the main house, the guest house Clubhouse and Marina from my parents. My sister Caroline, moved away when she married and I bought out her share of the estate. Martin had been my parents' physical therapist and toward their end, he and I developed a real connection that developed into romance. We have been together for five years and during the past two years of grieving and making some improvements to the guest house, realized our goal of offering the place for either BnB vacation rentals, or interim or longer term worker rental. We had another two weeks of a 30 day BnB rental to a nice couple and their two teens and so it was time to again post the place in the, local classifieds and online.
A little description of the guest house is in order, since you don't know Lake Thompson or the small community of Willsport. There is a high hill on which sits the main house, built by my great-grandparents, "The Wills" and it overlooks what was a bend in the river. My great grandad Wills opened a trading post at the bend and as he grew his business, decided that he and his wife would build a proper house up on a hill that overlooked the river and his trading post. This would become the guest house as you'll read below.
The high house, as it was called, was eventually built on a higher hill and had several additions as their family grew and ended up being the white two-story brick structure with large open porches, one facing the river and the other facing the front, that still exists today and from which, I'm recapping this story. Martin and I often get lost wandering around inside the place, but that's another matter. The tall windows on each level opened the high house to take advantage of the river winds and the large shade trees offer added comfort and protection from the Summer sun. There is a large welcoming foyer that runs from the double door front entry through the house and out to the rear/river side porch. High ceilings add volume to the place but were again designed with cooling as their purpose. What was a large turning path out front for wagons, was subsequently filled with stones, then filled in further for car traffic and finally paved with concrete by my parents. You no doubt wonder how my last name is Hendricks and my great-grandparents, Wills? My mom was a Wills and high house, the guest house, the river facility and land down to the river were all part of her inheritance. Lake Thompson was named for Mr. Ed Thompson who worked for my great-grandparents until he died. My parents created the Lake Thompson Marina and Club again after the Thompson family and lake. I worked so many different jobs as a kid, a teen, when home from college and even today, that there are damned few tasks I haven't done or can't do at the Marina or the Clubhouse. In fact, my first gay sex was as a teen with a guest at the clubhouse. Again, another story.
Actually the location of the guest house on the lower hill was my great-grandparents 1st place when they moved out of the second floor of the trading post. It is turned about 30 degrees off center and offers views of two sides of the lake today and did so of the river, before it was dammed. A wide paved walkway leads down to the marina and clubhouse and up from the guest house to high house, with low shrubbery on both sides and an allee of evergreen trees. The lake views are still visible from both the guest house and the high house. When most see the guest house, in person or online, they are ready to sign the rental agreement and pay their deposit on the spot. It is a 2-story space as well, with one bath flanked by two bedrooms upstairs and another bedroom, bath and public rooms as listed in the classified posting, downstairs. A large rear porch and rear balcony face the lake. While it is ideal for a family BnB, it's also been rented out to short term clubhouse and marina workers as well. It's usually Summer months when vacation rentals happen and also when room rentals for temporary workers get secured. It was a temporary worker who took a room for three weeks, before the family took the entire guest house for the 30 days mentioned above. The worker's name was Chris and he was a marine motor guru who retired from the Navy and needed peace and quiet.