A Haven for Vee

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Dream a Little Dream

*Want to Win the Lovell Inn?*
I should not whine about winter weather so much because I don't believe that there'll be many takers for this one. ☺ Nevertheless, someone is going to win The Lovell Inn for a mere $125 entry fee. The inn is worth nearly a million dollars. The current owner won it herself twenty years ago. Visiting the site will tell you how and provide a link to a photo gallery. It's a lovely place. I know because we pass by on our way to the Fryeburg Fair. I even notified my Fryeburg Aunt and Uncle who let me know that they may act crazy, but they are not. Ha!
~this photo may or may not be it~


About twenty years ago, my sister and I began to do some serious research on purchasing a B&B. We were friends with a successful B&B owner who was willing to teach us a few things and we felt that we were perfectly suited to such an enterprise. In those days, I cleaned compulsively and Sis has always been a friendly, sociable gal. We even found a home that we felt would work well with gardens and paths through the woods, and a landing on the river. We were charmed by the idea of guests using kayaks to explore the river. After all, my sister and I kayaked on the river several times a week loving every minute. It was ultimately that landing on the river that did us in. The cost of insurance would have been astronomical.

Well, it was a lovely dream while it lasted. Ever have one of those?

45 comments:

  1. There is nothing wrong with a good dream is there!! xx

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  2. I've had that dream too! I just watched a Hallmark movie this weekend where a woman (who happens to be a chef) inherits a home in Bucks County, PA and wants to turn it into a B & B! For sure, I would rather stay in one than a hotel, happy dreams, XOXO

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  3. I love a good dream! Even if they never happen - it's cheap and fun! I have lots of them. Some of them actually HAVE come true!!

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  4. It is a beautiful place, but I would rather not spend my retirement years taking care of other people! It sounds like a lot of work, and no time off.

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  5. I have blogged in the past about a fictitious B&B with my staff and guests. Making one up in the imagination is easier than paying insurance on a dock with kayaks... Thanks for the delightful reading today.

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  6. I was just reading in the paper today about the contest to win this inn. I thought, "Maybe I could write a good enough essay to win!" It only took about that long for reality to kick in. A lovely dream, but no. Guess I will focus on some of my other dreams, like owning a cabin on a remote lake ...

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  7. Vee, I love staying at B&B's. I would stay at yours in a heartbeat. All the work involved in running such an enterprise would certainly keep me from running one. "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when your're fast asleep." ♥

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  8. I used to think a B&B would be so much fun to own. I love staying at them. Alas, running one is out of my system. I bet the owners could tell some stories....

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  9. You would be a wonderful B&B hostess.

    Smiles,
    Carol

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  10. Oh yes, I once had dreams of owning a B&B. The more I thought of it, though, and all the work, the more I realized I just wanted to be a permanent pampered guest at one!

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  11. Ohhh mememememememe, wink. Dreaming is good for the soul. Nice dream, Vee. I agree, you would make a perfect hostess. Blessings

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  12. I wanted to run a B and B also. But wondered if soon I would grow weary of it. A fun dream though. We had a B and B here for sale on a raffle type thing but you only had to pay 10 dollars. There was a movie about a similar thing maybe 20 years ago, but I can't remember the name.

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  13. I miss operating our BnB that we had in Hanna...I still have dreams of a small guest house on this property. I guess I will keep dreaming and who knows what may happen! What a beautiful inn and just a mere $125!! That is crazy!!

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    1. $125 entry fee and the winning essay...forgot to mention that part.

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  14. Yes, I wanted to open a Country Store. I had a name and everything.....but that didn't happen. So I just shopped at others....but I still remember that name!!

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  15. I had many but as you say the expenses are always a lot more then I think they will be and much more work involved.
    Merle..........................

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  16. Vee- We have something in common there. Hubby and I thought about opening a B&B for many years, too. The problem was that he would not help in the running of it and was/is not handy. But- oh- that was such a dream of mine for a very long time. I'm sure you have smiled many times over the years thinking about your "I almost did it". xo Diana

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  17. I used to have B&B dreams as well. Not any more! So what's the catch with the Lovell House 'giveaway'? I'm thinking Lovella should really try for it!

    I'm smiling at the comment from Deborah...who acknowledged she would much prefer to be a pampered guest at a B&B...than to own one. Yup.

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  18. I could see you as the idea innkeeper, Vee, and would totally visit and stay with you. It's funny as I have thought I would enjoy doing something like that because I love to host & spoil guests...... But I'm not a morning person at all & do believe that would be a requirement. Perhaps a Bed & Tea? hehe

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  19. Oh, it's fun to dream! I have dreams that I love to think about and sometimes I'll jot ideas down in my journal. Sweet hugs, Diane

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  20. Sounds tempting, but I'll pass. It was a dream of mine at one time as well, but I'm getting too old for 18 hour workdays.... Fun for someone though...

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  21. My husband and I had the same dream once upon a time. We did the research and were planning on buying a historic home from some friends of ours, we ran up against some zoning issues and had to let the dream die. We are dreaming new dreams these days...

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  22. Oh yes, we've had a few of those ideas and then we watched and saw how much work all that dreaming would afford us. Also the never getting away from it all. We thought about restaurants, too, but what a nightmare that would be...
    We like the idea of leaving work behind at the end of the day...
    Now we're just dreaming of keeping a job long enough to pay off the house...

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  23. Oh that sounds like a lovely idea but what a lot of work.
    That is a neat old house.

    I'm living a happy dream, making those trails up at Happy Trails, creating our own park. : )

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  24. That sounds like a dream, but for someone else. I think if I ever move again, it will be somewhere where snow only comes on special occasions. Not really, I would die without the seasons.

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  25. I dreamed once of opening a tea shop/bakery, but not a B&B. All that laundry! Dreams are wonderful things - your B&B would have been a wonderful place to visit.

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  26. That is an amazing looking home/ B and B.

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  27. I'm like you, Vee, I had that dream, but it was of owning a darling tea room, but that dream has faded now! You'll have to let us know who the winner of the B & B is. Dreams are always fun thought.

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  28. I love your dream. If you and your sister should enter and win The Lake House, would you still want to do that same dream? Maybe it could be a family business? ~ My dream is still the one I actually lived. . .a hobby farm. Although, I don't think I want to return to that dream and clean barns again. :-)

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  29. How exciting to win an Inn for only $125.00. I once thought about having a Bed and Breakfast too. Now I just wish that we could be visitors of one instead. They all seem to be so beautiful and museum like; with so much to look at.

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  30. I admire those who fulfill this type of dream. My dreams tend to be on the smaller side. It sounds like you and your sister had a good plan. Are you sure you wouldn't like to fulfill that dream 20 years later? I feel sure you could write a winning essay.

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  31. It sounds like a lovely dream!! I have imagined myself having a B&B and I have imagined living in New England. But "dreams" can be perfect. And reality...not so much. I am too lazy in my old age to manage a B&B...and the end of a rough winter is not the time to imagine myself in New England, know what I mean? (I know that you do!)

    But, I'd love to stay in that B&B...in New England...in late summer/early autumn. Now that sounds dreamy!!

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  32. We have to have those dreams, Vee. They help us find our way to the things that we really want to do and really can do! When we bought Pondside I thought it would make a great B&B and did some research and furnished accordingly. Life stepped in, grandchildren arrived, family guests took up the guest rooms enough of the year to make me realise that I had no time for paying guests! It was a good dream though!

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  33. I saw this on Facebook, and I forwarded the link to my cousins' who have a home in Maine. :-). Too late for me to venture into this business!

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  34. Well, I don't think I'd want the responsibility or the tied down time an inn or guest house would entail but I love to stay in places like this for sure. It looks like a beautiful spot. I've never had any big dreams other than to live in an old farmhouse that I could fix up but that didn't happen and I'm getting too old for it now. I still dream about it though.

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  35. Oh, the dreams I've had....one of them was to have a big two-story house much like the one Susan Branch lives in with roses spilling over an archway at the path leading to the back door and the garden would be filled with all kinds of beautiful flowers with a lilac bush planted by the back porch. I would sit on my swing and just close my eyes with the scent of lilacs wafting about while dreaming of more things I'd like to do! lol!
    Well, I'm afraid reality hit with a thud and I'll never realize that dream. Partly because if I could have a house like Susan's, I don't have the energy any longer to take care of one that size. (And in this town, the utility bills would be out of sight.) Or the knees for climbing stairs, although I do a bit of that here when it is laundry time.
    Nowadays, I stick to dreaming mainly about the day when all of the many projects we have started are finally finished!
    The Lovell Inn would be a lovely place to stay for a few nights, but I don't think I would want to care for it.

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  36. Oh, yes....my mom and I had a dream...we wanted to own a darling, charming, full of personality FURNITURE THRIFT STORE. We talked about it for years...we loved furniture of all kinds, I could travel and find wonderful pieces that EVERYone would want, she could paint and refinish and make us tea ....we found the perfect place to make this dream come true...but, then, my sweet little mama had to have her 2nd by pass surgery.. and she never woke up.Much more than a dream died that day. ..and I'll never get over it.
    and now, i need to make myself a cup of her tea

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  37. Hi Vee, It's been a while since I've visited. Glad to see you posting. I always thought it would be interesting to have a B&B. I remember the Inn on the Bob Newhart show - loved that! Mildred

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  38. To dream the impossible dream....or is it? If we had the money, I had a plot of land picked out on the lake for a B&B and Glenn could take people on day trips in a boat with a picnic basket...
    And here we sit, and that plot still sits empty. Someone purchased it but didn't build - maybe they'd like to hear my idea!

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  39. I had thoughts of "retiring" and opening a B&B....but my husband had been the chief engineer of a huge hotel for several years and after dealing with guest complaining about everything, and getting calls in the middle of the night because a toilet was plugged etc he wanted no part of it...

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  40. Oh good, I did not lose my place, I am still the last one to comment LOL
    Yes, I have had a dream of a tea shop with all the lovelies that go with it! This was such a good post!
    I guess i will just settle for re-painting the inside of our camper and make some new curtains (smile)
    Blessings, Roxy

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  41. Someone won that beautiful home for $125?

    OH MY GOLLY!

    I have wanted to own a B and B for about all my adult life.

    But I didn't go that route and now I am simply too old and tired!

    I have other dreams, many have come true, and the rest are just that, dreams.

    Neat post, Vee. Hugs.



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