Briar Rose Inn Bed and Breakfast                306 East Dunklin Jefferson City, Mo   65101 573-338-0284       Email: J.Wilkerson@BriarRoseInnBnB.com

 

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Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have                                      entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2                                                    About Our Inn Our B & B  is over a hundred years  old and  was originally built  as a single family dwelling. It had a wrap-around porch on the two top stories originally, but they were converted into bathrooms around 1906 (original casting date on the claw foot bathtub upstairs). The house still has its original coal burning fireplace with ceramic tile surround, pocket doors, French doors, and transom windows still intact.. The larger windows were redone with energy efficient replacements.      Jeanette and Randy Wilkerson, your Inkeepers The house was converted into apartments by 1940. We have documentation and pictures  of that time period. The landlady lived upstairs and rented the downstairs to a family of 4. One of the children  has told us about living at the B & B during the early years of World War II. It remained an apartment house     from that time until we purchased it in 2000. The house had been "updated" with lowered ceilings and wood paneling in the 1960's and 1970's. Layers of flooring were simply laid on top of each other. The tear-out work was massive.        Restoration began with the top floor, working on one room at a time. The whole           house had become a derelict, but  I could see its potential. Everything, even the door hardware had been           painted over several times. What a wonderful  find to discover copper plated hardware under all those layers of paint.. Each little step took us a bit closer, however it took 5 years to complete the top floor. Randy and I             were both working full  time jobs during the renovation,  but patience and perseverance won the day!                  With one suite complete, we opened the bed and breakfast in January of  2006.  I quit my job,  but Randy continued to work full time. Within the next year, by January, 2007,  the Federal Suite            had been completed,  so we finally had two suites. Within the following  year, we completed our Rustic           Retreat Suite for a total of three suites, which is what we have today. Although the B & B  has a huge full     attic with heart pine flooring, we haven't made plans to open it up.        (Yet!!!!!!!)       The house has been restored with much work  and lots of love for seeing old things brought back to  life. We did not try to make it  look like a new house. Although the pine floors were refinished,  we  left imperfections left by toys and foot traffic to tell their own tale of the house's history. We found   magazines from the 1940's era in the attic, an old toy truck without wheels in the flower bed, and a wine     opener shaped like a bullet in  the walls. Restoring the house was a wonderful adventure and the actual running of the B and B is an ongoing adventure we enjoy everyday.     Jeanette talks about us:  Randy and I met as teenagers in high school. We have now been married 40+  years,  have 2 children and 4 grandchildren.   Randy worked in Data Processing for the Missouri Department of Labor for   33 years and was a member of the 5503rd US Army Reserve Hospital for 21 years. He retired from the army in 1992 and retired from the state of Missouri in  March of  2008. He collects antique John Deere tractors and enjoys working in his vegetable garden.   I was a homemaker until our children were teenagers, then I went back to college and earned my degree in education. I worked in the public school system in special education for three years. After that, I  worked for the  Missouri Department of Corrections where I administered achievement and IQ testing for incarcerated individuals. All the while,  I collected items for the dream of having a B & B "someday" .   Eventually the B & B became a reality, and it has allowed the two of us to be together more than ever. We're now business partners as well as life partners,  and we consider ourselves to be truly blessed in  all things.

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306 East Dunklin Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
Phone: (573) 338-0284
Jeanette Wilkerson, Innkeeper/Grandma
Briar Rose Email: J.Wilkerson@BriarRoseInnBnB.com