Historic St. Joseph Home Restored to Become Luxury Bed and Breakfast
By: William Seay
Updated: March 18, 2013
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) When you walk in the foyer of the Shakespeare Chateau, it can be a lot to take in at once.
A bust of the Bard himself sits vigilant atop an elaborately decorated fireplace.
Twin dragons guard the staircase.
There's stained glass at every corner.
The tile on the floor is just as elaborate.
"I think this is one of the most elegant interiors I've ever seen," said Isobel McGowan, who bought the Victorian mansion in May of 2012.
McGowan bought the house with every intention of restoring it into a luxury bed and breakfast.
"We were fortunate that this house had been a bed and breakfast in the '90s," she said. "So a lot of the plumbing work, the bathrooms, and sleeping rooms were already there. We didn't have to do anything there except to make repairs and clean them up."
The new owner and innkeeper has invested nearly $750,000 into the purchase and renovation of this home, which was built in 1885.
$500,000 of that money was secured through a website called Boefly, which works almost like a dating service between borrowers and lenders.
"We were fortunate that we put our abstract out there and we were picked up almost immediately," McGowan said, explaining that a bank in Kansas stepped up with the funding.
Together with her assistant Christina Cassidy, it's taken McGowan's crew 10 months working round the clock to restore the house to its current state.
That includes getting the bedrooms ready for guests, and installing a brand new kitchen.
"I've learned all kinds of things," Cassidy said. "I've done things that I've never done before. I've carried buckets of rubble, to stripping paint, to working on hardware. I worked harder than I've ever worked in my life, and it's been very much worth it."
There are still some places that need work, but the chateau is open for guests.
And McGowan hopes the house she calls one of St. Joseph's treasures will live up to its iconic legacy.
They're also opening the home for tours and for events and banquets.
The plan is to start small for events - maybe housing up to 25 people. But McGowan hopes to convert the house's top floor to a ballroom for larger events.
A bust of the Bard himself sits vigilant atop an elaborately decorated fireplace.
Twin dragons guard the staircase.
There's stained glass at every corner.
The tile on the floor is just as elaborate.
"I think this is one of the most elegant interiors I've ever seen," said Isobel McGowan, who bought the Victorian mansion in May of 2012.
McGowan bought the house with every intention of restoring it into a luxury bed and breakfast.
"We were fortunate that this house had been a bed and breakfast in the '90s," she said. "So a lot of the plumbing work, the bathrooms, and sleeping rooms were already there. We didn't have to do anything there except to make repairs and clean them up."
The new owner and innkeeper has invested nearly $750,000 into the purchase and renovation of this home, which was built in 1885.
$500,000 of that money was secured through a website called Boefly, which works almost like a dating service between borrowers and lenders.
"We were fortunate that we put our abstract out there and we were picked up almost immediately," McGowan said, explaining that a bank in Kansas stepped up with the funding.
Together with her assistant Christina Cassidy, it's taken McGowan's crew 10 months working round the clock to restore the house to its current state.
That includes getting the bedrooms ready for guests, and installing a brand new kitchen.
"I've learned all kinds of things," Cassidy said. "I've done things that I've never done before. I've carried buckets of rubble, to stripping paint, to working on hardware. I worked harder than I've ever worked in my life, and it's been very much worth it."
There are still some places that need work, but the chateau is open for guests.
And McGowan hopes the house she calls one of St. Joseph's treasures will live up to its iconic legacy.
They're also opening the home for tours and for events and banquets.
The plan is to start small for events - maybe housing up to 25 people. But McGowan hopes to convert the house's top floor to a ballroom for larger events.
