 PUTNAM --
It's not the recent preservation award from Washington County that makes
years of renovation work worthwhile for Joe and Nancy Hoell. It's
the comments written in the guest book, said Joe Hoell, the owner of the
Lake Champlain Inn Bed & Breakfast in Putnam Station.
"To
see somebody who comes for a weekend or a week, then to read the
feelings they write, that's the reward," Hoell said last week.
But being among the seven to get a 23rd annual Washington County
Historic Preservation Award this year was an honor, he said. The Hoells
are the third owners of a large house on Lake Champlain that was built
130 years ago. It's unusual for such an old property to have changed
hands so few times, he said.
The
six bedroom home was built in the 1870s by the Graham brothers and was
sold to the Forgette family in 1937. The Hoells bought the property, a
former dairy farm, in 1989. The Hoells moved to this area from New
Jersey to fulfill their dream of owning a bed and breakfast. They both
got jobs and spent virtually all of their free time redoing the home.
Although it would have been easier and quicker to gut the structure and
start fresh inside, they wanted to preserve as much of the original as
possible, Hoell said. But they also wanted to give every room a private
bath. The house had not been updated much over the years and was
outfitted only with an overhead light bulb in each room and a kitchen
sink, he recalled. Now, each of the three bedrooms and one two-room
suite has its own bathroom, but most of the original building remains
intact, he said.
They
also chose to decorate in an old-fashioned style. Hoell said they knew
they were on the right track when they were scraping a plaster wall in
the hall and found wallpaper identical to the new wallpaper they'd
chosen to put there.
Since
opening for guests in 1996, business has been steadily growing and every
weekend is booked this summer, with mid-week bookings also the best to
date, Hoell said. The renovations are still continuing, however. The
next project is to remake a woodshed off the back that hosts an indoor
privy. The room faces Lake Champlain, and Hoell said he plans to put in
a wall of windows and turn it into a guest suite. But he'll leave the
privy. "I want to leave some character," he said.
The
Hoells won their award in the rehabilitation category, along with two
other people. Rochelle Ratner of Granville was honored for restoring an
1840 barn that was collapsing. Linda and James Kennelly restored the
outside of their Greek revival home on Lauzons Lane in Jackson to the
way it was built in 1835.
The
restoration category is for those who return a building to its original
condition and use without modernizing it. This year, the Swanberg family
of Connecticut was awarded for their restoration of a barn and corncrib
on their property on Black Creek Road in Salem. Three towns and
businesses were also honored for their rehabilitation and remodeling
work. They were: the Fort Edward Local Development Corp. for its work on
the old train station in the village; the town of Salem for fixing the
historic Binninger Road bridge; and the Cambridge Hotel corporation, for
saving the famous white building and its magnificent porches that
overlook Main Street in the village. The Washington County Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation runs the awards program. The council
was established by the Board of Supervisors in 1977 to encourage
appreciation and protection of historic resources in the county.
Staff writer Suzanne Seay may be reached at seay@poststar.com
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