After a spending a year renovating his great-great grandfather’s three-storey 19th Century home, converting it into a now four-star heritage country inn and bed and breakfast, the work is complete.
Click here to read related story from earlier in the renovation.
“It’s been a long year,” said Paul, from the front porch of the Park Corner home. “We’ve basically done a complete restoration, right down to the bare studs in most of the rooms, partial foundation and landscaping, doors and windows and deck.”
READY FOR GUESTS
Now Montgomery Inn at Ingleside is ready for guests.
“We had no budget and no schedule that way we weren’t disappointed or surprised,” added Paul. “It has gone faster than what we thought. Initially, we planned to be open by 2017. We are ready to go now.”
FILLED WITH HISTORY
The home is filled with history, which is tastefully incorporated into updated yet period appropriate décor. There are artifacts from two well-known members of the Montgomery clan — Paul’s great-great grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery, one of the first four senators appointed when P.E.I. joined Confederation, and his granddaughter, “Anne of Green Gables” author, L.M. Montgomery.
Click here to read a related story about historical artifacts found during the renovation.
From within its walls, particularly from the view of her second-storey bedroom overlooking what is now know as Rainbow Valley and the Lake of Shining Waters, L.M. found inspiration, particularly for her “Ingleside” series.
“When Anne and Gilbert grow up and get married, they live in Ingleside… a seven-bedroom house patterned after her grandfather’s house,” said Paul.
The home has been passed along through the family, bought and sold several times, its last incarnation being the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum.
UNIQUE FEATURES PRESERVED
Its unique features have been preserved, such as hand-painted scrolling on the door of the senator’s room, the original wood floors and a pass through from the now modernized kitchen.
“Just the way the old houses were built really impressed me,” said Paul.
Michele’s keen design sense was vital in key in picking colours, furnishings, accents, paint and wallpaper complimentary to the home’s history and architecture.
“It just works,” added Paul. “It looks very authentic.”
Power and telephone lines were removed and buried, providing unobstructed views, and some windows replaced to match the original design.
“Back in the 1960s when the bathroom was put in they built a dormer up on the top of the roof south facing. We took that out and returned it to the original roofline.’
The renovation hasn’t been without its challenges, the biggest being the foundation.
And advice was always welcome, with social media used in helping make some of the design decisions, including the colour and lettering for the roadside sign.
“It is amazing the amount of interest in Lucy Maud and ‘Anne of Green Gables’ and the ‘Ingleside’ series of books. The following worldwide, I continue to be amazed,” said Paul. “We have been posting pictures of progress along the way and we got a tremendous amount of positive feedback.”
That following, Paul hopes, will result in bookings.
Already there have been inquiries from places as far away as Poland.
“They had actually wanted to come and stay here but we weren’t quite ready to open. We had inquiries worldwide, more for next summer,” he added.
“We wanted to make sure when we are open it meets people’s expectations.”
So, what would his Montgomery ancestors think of the renovation?
“I would like to think they would be pretty pleased and satisfied with the detail that we put into it.”
About Montgomery Inn at Ingleside
The tourist home boasts seven bedrooms, five with their own private bathroom and two with a shared bathroom, an updated and modernized kitchen, parlour, and dining room, which is home to the mantel where Gog and Magog, those green-spotted China dogs L.M. first wrote about in “Anne of the Island,” once sat, catching the interest of a then young, aspiring novelist.
Dotted on the front yard are handcrafted wooden seats, with a wooden porch swing on the front veranda, all awaiting visitors who will be treated to breathtaking views.
On the back of the home a deck has been added, overlooking, the water and a garden that will provide fresh produce to visitors.
And, alongside that from veranda is the pulpit stone, from, while standing on top, young L.M. would “preach” to her friends and later write about in “The Story Girl.”
After a spending a year renovating his great-great grandfather’s three-storey 19th Century home, converting it into a now four-star heritage country inn and bed and breakfast, the work is complete.
Click here to read related story from earlier in the renovation.
“It’s been a long year,” said Paul, from the front porch of the Park Corner home. “We’ve basically done a complete restoration, right down to the bare studs in most of the rooms, partial foundation and landscaping, doors and windows and deck.”
READY FOR GUESTS
Now Montgomery Inn at Ingleside is ready for guests.
“We had no budget and no schedule that way we weren’t disappointed or surprised,” added Paul. “It has gone faster than what we thought. Initially, we planned to be open by 2017. We are ready to go now.”
FILLED WITH HISTORY
The home is filled with history, which is tastefully incorporated into updated yet period appropriate décor. There are artifacts from two well-known members of the Montgomery clan — Paul’s great-great grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery, one of the first four senators appointed when P.E.I. joined Confederation, and his granddaughter, “Anne of Green Gables” author, L.M. Montgomery.
Click here to read a related story about historical artifacts found during the renovation.
From within its walls, particularly from the view of her second-storey bedroom overlooking what is now know as Rainbow Valley and the Lake of Shining Waters, L.M. found inspiration, particularly for her “Ingleside” series.
“When Anne and Gilbert grow up and get married, they live in Ingleside… a seven-bedroom house patterned after her grandfather’s house,” said Paul.
The home has been passed along through the family, bought and sold several times, its last incarnation being the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum.
UNIQUE FEATURES PRESERVED
Its unique features have been preserved, such as hand-painted scrolling on the door of the senator’s room, the original wood floors and a pass through from the now modernized kitchen.
“Just the way the old houses were built really impressed me,” said Paul.
Michele’s keen design sense was vital in key in picking colours, furnishings, accents, paint and wallpaper complimentary to the home’s history and architecture.
“It just works,” added Paul. “It looks very authentic.”
Power and telephone lines were removed and buried, providing unobstructed views, and some windows replaced to match the original design.
“Back in the 1960s when the bathroom was put in they built a dormer up on the top of the roof south facing. We took that out and returned it to the original roofline.’
The renovation hasn’t been without its challenges, the biggest being the foundation.
And advice was always welcome, with social media used in helping make some of the design decisions, including the colour and lettering for the roadside sign.
“It is amazing the amount of interest in Lucy Maud and ‘Anne of Green Gables’ and the ‘Ingleside’ series of books. The following worldwide, I continue to be amazed,” said Paul. “We have been posting pictures of progress along the way and we got a tremendous amount of positive feedback.”
That following, Paul hopes, will result in bookings.
Already there have been inquiries from places as far away as Poland.
“They had actually wanted to come and stay here but we weren’t quite ready to open. We had inquiries worldwide, more for next summer,” he added.
“We wanted to make sure when we are open it meets people’s expectations.”
So, what would his Montgomery ancestors think of the renovation?
“I would like to think they would be pretty pleased and satisfied with the detail that we put into it.”
About Montgomery Inn at Ingleside
The tourist home boasts seven bedrooms, five with their own private bathroom and two with a shared bathroom, an updated and modernized kitchen, parlour, and dining room, which is home to the mantel where Gog and Magog, those green-spotted China dogs L.M. first wrote about in “Anne of the Island,” once sat, catching the interest of a then young, aspiring novelist.
Dotted on the front yard are handcrafted wooden seats, with a wooden porch swing on the front veranda, all awaiting visitors who will be treated to breathtaking views.
On the back of the home a deck has been added, overlooking, the water and a garden that will provide fresh produce to visitors.
And, alongside that from veranda is the pulpit stone, from, while standing on top, young L.M. would “preach” to her friends and later write about in “The Story Girl.”
