About Us
& Our Home

Our Story and Our New Adventure

Dave and I grew up in the same small town in rural Illinois, went to college at St. Ambrose in Iowa and married shortly after graduation just over 30 years ago. We have lived in St. Joe / Stevensville for the past 22 years and have raised a daughter (Hannah) and son (Corey). They are the greatest things we have done together. Our youngest just left home to attend Michigan State University in the fall of 2018 so we are officially empty nesters. I think this life stage change can be credited/blamed for why we decided to take on a bold, new challenge. And who doesn’t want to go into massive debt in their 50’s to finance their Plan B…but I digress.

It’s always been a great pleasure hosting family and friends at our home. We also love southwest Michigan because there’s always something going on–it’s easy to get around to a multitude of fun activities. If you haven’t seen a Lake Michigan sunset, you are missing out! We are excited to share that experience with you.

We looked at many different properties as we built our business plan for the Inn and soon realized that our sweet spot was in Baroda, more specifically 1117 Hinchman Road. This building was originally a schoolhouse built in the early 1900s and later became the Baroda Church of God in the 1970s. It had been vacant for several years when we first looked at it and was in very rough shape but had tons of character. Ironically, there was no serious recent interest in the property until we and another couple both put in bids in the same day. Upon learning that the other couple’s bid was accepted, I was distraught because I could completely picture this as Ambrose Bed & Breakfast. Fast forward six week later, our realtor called to tell us the other buyers failed to show up for their closing. This is PMA (positive mental attitude) at work! We closed the deal and began the demo.

The demo pics – see the slide show above – tell the story better than I can. Suffice it to say it was an experience and we learned to never say “demo is almost done.” We have many wonderful friends and family members to thank for pitching in to help do some really dirty work – our debt will never be repaid but we will continue to supply the beer whenever you’re in the neighborhood. I always knew my husband was a hard worker, but he has simply amazed me in every way. He has worked tirelessly on this project and I couldn’t be more proud of being his partner in life and now business.

We are grateful to be in Baroda and blessed to have many new wonderful neighbors who have been so supportive throughout the long renovation process.

– Angie