Historic Hospitality

In 1865, it is said, Samuel Hoge, a Nettle Creek pioneer, built a mansion for his favorite daughter, Charlotte, at the time of her marriage to Capt. William Reardon Jr. as a wedding gift. Reardon had returned to the Morris area after surviving the siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War. The home was built on the north side of what is now U.S. 6, just west of Pioneer Road, not far from Hoge's home. The mansion is an example of Victorian Italianate Architecture that was popular at the time of the Civil War. Rebelling against formal, classical architecture, Italianate became one of the most-popular styles in the United States, with its low roofs, wide eaves, and ornamental brackets. The Reardon mansion, as it became known, is explained in a book by Virginia Sparr Brown, titled “Grundy County Landmarks,” which is available at the Morris Area Public Library. But there is no need to just read about the mansion any longer. The mansion was purchased just over three years ago by Joseph and Jennifer Tessone as a place for Jennifer's mother to live so she could move to Illinois from Wisconsin and be near her grandchildren. “I had noticed the home before and just knew it as the Brown home,” said Jennifer. “When I saw it go on the market, I called my husband and told him we had to buy it for my mother, site unseen.” They called the realtor and made an offer immediately. “We hadn't even gone in the house until the day before the closing and really hadn't thought about what kind of work it might need,” said Jennifer. “When we went in, we found out this big mansion only had one tiny bathroom on the first floor and there was no heat upstairs.” She said those issues didn't deter her at all from her plans to buy the home. Jennifer said her husband, Joseph, had mentioned the possibility of turning it into a bed and breakfast for her mother to operate once she moved here. Her mother was very excited about the idea. They began work right away, pulling up carpet and hoping for hardwood floors, which they found throughout the house, although the floors had been met with a coat of red paint at some time in the past. They hired someone to come in and strip and refinish the floors while they worked at stripping the home's hardware, which turned out to be the original ornate hardware now hidden under several coats of paint. The home was then introduced to some of today's luxuries, while still keeping as much as possible to the Victorian era from which it came. Three bedrooms on the second floor were refinished, with each gaining it's own modern bathroom, complete with its own water heater, so guests never have to worry about their housemates using it all. There is a fourth bedroom on the second floor that Jennifer has turned into a child's room so that a family can book the back two bedrooms and have a more-suite-like atmosphere, with the kids sharing their parents' bathroom and sleeping just across the hall. Each of the bedrooms has its own name, coming from some of the more-well-known former owners. The Reardon suite is the first bedroom as you climb the stairs and has always been the master bedroom, complete with its original fireplace, which was used for heat when it was built. The second suite is the Gebhard suite, named after the mansion's second owner. In this suite, guests have use of a Victrola, complete with a drawer full of records from which to choose, and a modern rain shower bath in its private bathroom. The Beckwith suite is named after the third owner of the mansion. It is the one across from the kid's room. It offers a private balcony and a separate shower and tub. On the main level there is a sitting room with a fireplace, two dining rooms, and a kitchen where the inn keepers make breakfast. The Tessones have taken great care in acquiring furniture from the 1800s, as well as dresses and boots to decorate the entire home. The one item found in each bedroom and the living room that is definitely not from the 1800s is the plasma television that is mounted for guests' use. The new owners also had the outside of the home landscaped and a paver brick turn about and sitting garden installed in front of the home. After three years' work, the home was completed and ready for Jennifer's mother to move in and open. “My mom came here for about a month before she broke the news to me,” said Jennifer. “She felt that life here was just too fast-paced and she wanted to return to Wisconsin.” Today, Jennifer has local friends who step in as inn keepers when she has guests booked. If they aren't available, she leaves her four children with her husband and becomes the inn keeper for the night. “I'm really hoping to find someone - maybe someone that is retired - who is willing to become our permanent inn keeper,” she said. In addition to being a bed and breakfast Jennifer said she rents out the home for holiday parties, showers, and corporate dinners. “Chapin's caters all of our food for parties,” said Jennifer. “This allows us to serve great food with the privacy of a home.” She hopes to be able to do weddings and receptions in the future, as well as to purchase additional land to add horse stables. She said she is keeping the home as “green” as possible, using only green products for cleaning and everyday care. Jennifer will be opening the home on March 12 for a presentation on how to “go green” in your own home. The mansion will be open to the public for this presentation. If you'd like to attend or would like information on holding a party at the mansion, you may contact Tessone directly at (815) 941-9100.