Clare Webb used to be so tired that she
would fall asleep in the evenings while sitting on a wooden
stool in the kitchen of her new home - the Hillside Inn
of Ephraim on the Door Peninsula.
But that was in August, when she was a new innkeeper and coming off a six-month
stretch of renovating and decorating the historic country inn while still marketing
and preparing to leave her Santa Monica, Calif., home.
Webb and her husband, Jim, traded life in the Los Angeles
area for home in this landmark inn and new careers as innkeepers.
The inn was built in 1890, and the property affords a magnificent
view of Eagle Harbor on the bay.
Jim formerly headed the real estate department for National
Fabrics, a retail chain, and Clare filled volunteer roles
in hospital philanthropy and public relations. Although
their decision to move to Door County was an easy one,
the inn's renovation from February through July 2002 was
a major undertaking for the Webbs.
Working with a local architect and builder, the couple
gutted the 7,500-square-foot building, discarding outdated
windows and storing the maple flooring in a barn on the
property for re-sanding and replacement later. Only an
interior staircase, leading to the guests' rooms, remained.
On the exterior, the couple called for siding to be removed
and replaced, a new roof and a new upper level veranda.
Even the foundation, on the southeast portion of the inn,
had to be raised 6 inches.
Ultimately, the Webbs transformed the 12-room hotel with
two shared baths into an elegantly appointed five-suite
inn (each suite with sleeping and sitting areas, fireplace
and private bath) that includes 1,200 square feet of personal
living space on the first floor.
Clare, who has visited the Door Peninsula since she was
a child, decorated the inn with antiques, discovered at
her favorite shops on the peninsula, in the Los Angeles
area and in the couple's travels.
The couple inherited other pieces from family members,
including a laptop desk from Clare's great-great-grandfather.
By adding legs, Clare repurposed the piece as a side table.
Nearby in the living room, a miniature 1940s schooner,
built by a Warner Bros. Studio set designer and a gift
from Jim's grandfather, is encased in glass on the fireplace
mantel in the entrance.
"A friend told me, 'I think you were always meant
to be here, because everything fits in,' and I think it
really does," Clare says.
Collections also dot the Webbs' home. The plate collection,
hanging on a kitchen wall, actually began with a plate
made by Clare's father, John D. Blossom, owner of a Door
County commemorative plate business called Crow's Nest.
Blossom used art from antique postcards in design of the
plates sold exclusively from 1960 through 1964 at a former
Door Peninsula shop called the Red Barn.
And in the Webbs' bedroom are 32 Battersea boxes, made
in England; Baccarat and Lalique glass animals and figures;
and Herend glass animals, birds and flowers in blue and
white and green and white, made in Hungary.
"We wanted to be comforted and surrounded by some
of the things we had in L.A., but the difference here is
we have this magnificent view outside the window," says
Clare.
The Door Peninsula's natural surroundings inspire the
inn's decor. The Webbs named each suite after a wildflower
indigenous to the Peninsula and used fabric and artwork
with natural colors and subjects. Guests choose from the
trillium, day lily, mayflower, marsh marigold and forget-me-not
suites - each decorated with a watercolor painting of the
wildflower, created by Debbie Hassan, Los Angeles artist
and friend of Clare.
"That brought it together for us. We chose the fabrics
based on the watercolor she did," Clare explains.
The Webbs took some time during the inn's first full summer
season to talk with freelance writer Donna Marie Pocius
about the renovation, decor and life as innkeepers.
Q. What made you decide to buy the inn?
Jim: I wasn't ready to retire, and we have come to like
it up here. We saw the opportunity to spend more time here
and to have a business would be an advantage for both of
us.
Q. What shape was it in when you bought it?
Clare: We came to see it four to five times, and came
one time with a friend who turned to me and said, 'Clare,
what are you thinking?' It was in such a dilapidated and
tired condition. But I could see beyond this and envisioned
this wonderful, wonderful inn with a magnificent view.
Jim: It was a wreck, but the setting was right, and to
run a business in Ephraim was ideal.
Q. What were your priorities in changing the inn?
Clare: We wanted guests to walk in and feel like they
were in a home, rather than an inn. And I think it was
very important to end up with a building that looked like
it always has been here. When we look at exterior photos
now, as compared to prior to the renovation, there is not
a dramatic difference.
Q. What role does the inn's history play in the changes
you made?
Jim: We found the Village of Ephraim excited that we were
going to save the building, because it was in such a condition
that if something was not done soon, it could not be saved.
Ephraim has been very consistent about keeping buildings
(along the shoreline) white. We are using the same white
as when it was first built.
Clare: And that was exactly what we wanted. We would not
have considered another color. We love the white clapboard
buildings that surround the bay. You look at the white
buildings and the church steeple. What could be a prettier
picture? And we like being a part of that.
Q. Tell me more about color. What role do colors play
in your decorating, your life?
Clare: I love natural colors. And I like colors to reflect
what is going on outside. It is a beautiful, sunny summer
day, and to me the inn is a beautiful, sunny place. I like
the inside to reflect the outside and vice versa. We really
like pale yellow for the wall color. This is actually called
linen white (in the living room). We worked hard to get
this color; the week before the painters came, Jim spent
many hours at the paint store, and painted one wall, then
another, making a study to make sure it was right.
Q. How did you decorate the inn from across the country?
Clare: I chose all the fabrics at the Design Center of
Los Angeles and that took hours and hours and hours. I
brought back samples of fabric and shared them with my
mom, and she said, 'I like them, but they are not Door
County.' I came back with what I feel reflects Door County
- sunlight, the flowers, the blue of the sky, the water,
all of it. I didn't want it to be overdone, to stick with
simplicity as best I could, not baroques and velvets. I
was looking for light, airy.
Q. How does your decorating approach differ in your personal
space as compared to the rest of the inn?
Clare: I think the finest point of decorating is the flow
from room to room. It was my goal to be able to move one
piece from one room to another, and it still should look
OK. I think scale of furniture and room is so important.
So everything fits - not a large thing in a little room.
It's scale and flow, and light and color.
Q. Where do you spend most of your time?
Clare: Jim always asks me if I want to go and sit in the
inn's living room, but I love it in our sitting room. It
is just beautiful with the view. This has been a real comfort,
this space.
Q. What's your best-kept secret for buying items for the
inn?
Clare: I think the biggest secret is some of the chairs
are from secondhand stores. We looked around and found
wing back chairs, and I bought two for $50 and a little
table for $24 from Second Showing Resale, Sturgeon Bay.
Q. How do you deal with any feelings about lack of privacy?
Jim: I don't think we ever felt a lack of privacy. Most
people tend to come and go for the greater portion of the
day. They have breakfast, go out and enjoy the day: shopping,
doing sports, hiking, whatever. In late afternoon, they
come back to their rooms and then go out to dinner. We
have a pocket door we can close.
Clare: The inn was built in such a way that you cannot
hear from one room to the next. We can't even hear water
running.
Q. What's the best part about running a bed and breakfast?
Clare: I think everyone has been so charming, so interesting.
It has been a pleasure to have them here, sad when they
leave. They are interested in the whole process and respect
us and the inn itself.
Jim: On a winter day, it is wonderful to begin your day's
work and not have to go out in the snow.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to share about
decorating or innkeeping?
Clare: At the end of the day, this is our home; this is
what we have done. We enjoy the inn, the people, and this
is a wonderful location. What more would you want?
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