If you’re looking for somewhere a bit more personal to put up your guests, or even experience a fun night away from home, a Bed & Breakfast may be what you are looking for. Columbus is home to several unique options, one of which recently opened.
You may remember this beautiful home on Hawthorne Park when we featured Woodland Park in our Be My Neighbor series. Linda and Ron Hentsch purchased the home and they have turned it into the Hawthorne Park Bed & Breakfast.
“My wife and I both have backgrounds in the service industry, and we thought we would take our love of serving others and work from home,” says owner Ron Hentsch. “Though we understand that a B&B is a lot of work, it is also satisfying. We are trying to create a place to stay that is welcoming and able meet travelers’ needs.”
Naming the home was one of their first challenges, but they decided on Hawthorne Park Bed and Breakfast, “to stay true to the history of the home.” It also immediately lets you know the location.
The Hentsches love the history the home contains. “It is really exciting to think about all the people that have sat on our front porch and watched this neighborhood come to life,” says Ron Hentsch.
John Pribble III and Darci Congrove also found themselves with an unexpected business venture when they began what became the German Village Guest House.
In May of 2005, the couple saw a real estate opportunity next to their home in German Village they could not pass up.
“The house [next door] had been on the market for several months and the owner was becoming distressed because her new home was nearing completion and the old one wasn’t selling,” says Pribble. “Our primary interest in the property was a result of the former owner’s passion – her garden, filled with gorgeous mature specimen trees, a formal boxwood hedge, hybrid Japanese maples, roses and much much more. We couldn’t bear the thought of someone new moving in next door and putting an addition on the house in place of her incredible garden.”
The couple built a B&B business model to cash flow the property and thought they bought themselves a garden. The plan was to provide neighbors with a place for their out-of-town guests to stay. It quickly proved itself a successful business model that allowed the couple to add more rooms and suites and eventually purchase the building. Currently there are 3 rooms and 2 suites on the property.
“We designed a business that was a very modern interpretation of the genre, and also a focus on service and conveniences for business travelers. We are very tech savvy, high service and very low touch – kind of contra to the whole industry,” says Pribble. “It certainly has been a much more interesting business to run than I would have thought before starting.”
German Village Guest House photos courtesy John Pribble III.
Bed & Breakfasts in the Columbus area:
50 Lincoln-Short North Bed & Breakfast, 50 East Lincoln Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
German Village Guest House, 748 Jaeger Street, Columbus, Ohio 43206
Harrison House Bed & Breakfast, 313 W. 5th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43201
Hawthorne Park Bed & Breakfast, 1616 Hawthorne Park, Columbus Ohio 43203
Neil Avenue Bed & Breakfast, 1237 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43201
Victorian Village Guest House, 1149 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43201