Next Steps

Now that we have a signed contract for the sale of our apartment in NYC, we're able to look more closely at our finances to determine if buying a bed and breakfast is truly feasible. Our real estate broker in Napa recommended a contact at a local small business lender, so we will be working with them to figure out what we can (or cannot) afford. This, along with the overall availability of inns in the area, will ultimately make the decision for us. With this in mind, we've scheduled a trip out to Napa in early August to meet with our broker and see some available bed and breakfasts. We're keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed.

Thoughts on Color

When we started to think about how we would like to differentiate our rooms from one another, we immediately thought to use color as the basis. Oftentimes in wine country bed and breakfasts, you find that the rooms are named by varietal--Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet. Appropriate as this may be, to us it seems hokey. Really. We know most people come to drink the wine, but must the room names reflect this? It's been done before. Clearly rooms based on colors has been done before too, but this somehow seems more straight-forward and less cliché. Also, it provides a sensible basis on which to decorate the rooms. How do you decorate a Chardonnay room versus a Zinfandel room?

On the Design*Sponge website (again) I found two mini trends that could provide inspiration for how two of the rooms could be color-themed. One was "bright white" and the other "delft blue". Although I have concern that a bright white room could easily become a dull white (or worse, dirty white) room, it could be very beautiful and serene. I also like the clean sophistication implied by delft blue. Some other thoughts we had were to use J. Crew-type color names that could provide both visual and color decor cues, like Sage or Lemon.

Roller Coaster

A large part of our being able to buy a bed and breakfast is dependent on the sale of our current apartment in New York. When we put our apartment on the market in late September it was not exactly an ideal time, given the economy. And so, it took what seemed to be an interminable schedule of open houses before we finally received a valid offer. As luck would have it, a second person came forward with a competing offer while we were in the midst of negotiating with the first party. We ultimately decided to honor the first-come-first-serve principle and had a contract drawn up with the original prospective buyer. However, no sooner had we received the signed contract, was another, significantly higher offer made. 

Now at this point, we were in a sort of legal-limbo. After much back and forth with our lawyers to try and determine whether or not we could go with this new offer, we decided that there was much (money) to gain by taking the higher offer and that, though risky, it was legal. Due to some surrounding legal issues, our lawyers planned to reject the original contract the next morning rather than immediately. And then we received a call from our real estate broker. Apparently this second buyer--who yesterday "LOVED" the apartment and was "seriously committed" to purchasing it--had woken up with a change of heart. WHAT?!? A quick scramble to contact our lawyers ensued as we had only until the end of the day to sign the original contract before it expired. Thankful that we still had this option, our hearts were racing. 

But wait, there's more. In the middle of signing the contract with the first buyer, the second buyer called back yet again with another change of heart. She was still interested, but now too late. You snooze you lose. I guess these are the things you learn when you're 25 with more money than you know what to do with (as this second buyer is).

Back to School

We've determined that to best prepare ourselves for the reality of owning and running a bed and breakfast, it would be a good idea to take a seminar on innkeeping. Who knew there was even such a thing? In fact, it turns out there are a great number of seminars available. The bigger issue is finding a conveniently located course that we can coordinate with our busy summer schedule--three triathlons and a 200 mile bike ride, anyone? At this point, we've settled on a seminar held in late September, in Durham, NC. Mind you, Durham is not what we would call "conveniently located" to New York, but it's logistically easier to get to than some of our other options. We're holding off signing up for the course until we've developed our business plan, since if we can't prove the viability on paper, there will be no bed and breakfast to run!

Mirror Mirror

While we continue our search for the right property to acquire, we are also starting to collect renovating and decorating ideas. The two above were from a post I found on Design*Sponge. A wall of mirrors--perhaps running down a hallway--will reflect light, add a feeling of openness, and decorates without having to commit to a particular theme. I also like the classic color palette--grey and white. Again, quite beautiful yet inoffensive and universally appealing.

Secret hotels of the Loire Valley

Recently, while reading the latest news online, I found a travel story about young European couples transforming old châteaux into charming inns. The article is littered with ideas that would be appropriate to our own undertaking--brioche with fresh goat cheese, honey, and walnuts for breakfast? Check! Artisanal jams? Check! Renovated historic building? Toile bedding? Blond-wood floors? Check! Check! Check!  Of course, I'm sure this sort of thing is no surprise given the availability of such châteux scattered across the French countryside. That said, I was no less inspired about their endeavours since this is essentially what we hope to do.