October 6, 2006
Hello from Nova Scotia: The Lunenburg Inn
- One Couple's Unique (Pre-) Retirement Story
The day had started great: a hearty and healthy breakfast at the
Lunenburg
Inn was excellent preparation for a full day of discovery. During
the bright and sunny morning I headed out and went on a walking
tour through Lunenburg, a quaint and
scenic town on Nova Scotia’s southern coast whose unique architectural
heritage has garnered it the coveted UNESCO World Heritage Site
designation. I capped off my local explorations with a visit to
the famous Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, a renowned museum that
celebrates the maritime heritage of Nova Scotia.
The Lunenburg Inn - a 4.5 star bed and breakfast
I had big plans for today: a scenic drive along the Lighthouse
Trail through scenic communities such as Mahone Bay and Peggy’s
Cove to my final destination for today: Halifax,
Nova Scotia’s capital. But before saying goodbye to this charming
town I wanted to find out a little bit more about the hospitality
entrepreneurs running the Lunenburg Inn. I am always interested
in the people behind the destinations, because the people are really
the key factor in any hospitality experience.
So with my suitcase packed and stashed safely in the car, I sat
down with Don and Gail Wallace, owners of the Lunenburg Inn, to
find out more about their personal story. Don started off by telling
me that he had spent 33 years with a Toronto-based company in the
warehousing and transportation business, holding the title of Vice
President towards the end of his tenure. He felt it was time to
make a significant change in his life, so he and Gail sat down to
discuss what options they might have. They talked about downsizing
their house and looking at a second career that they could start
together. They also wanted to relocate away from the Toronto area
and find a place where they would be able to retire. So they started
looking further afield.
Don and Gail Wallace, the owners of the Lunenburg Inn
One day in February of 1995 they noticed an advertisement in the
Financial Post for a place called the “Lunenburg
Inn”. This struck a chord because both of them had been
dreaming of retiring near the ocean. So Don picked up the phone
and got in touch with the real estate broker. On a Sunday morning
in February he flew to Halifax and fell in love with Nova Scotia’s
South Shore. Don adds that Lunenburg was not as pretty as it is
today, but even then he recognized the potential of this town. He
really liked the property a lot, although it would need a lot of
work. So he phoned Gail to share his positive impressions and suggested
that they both travel to Lunenburg the following weekend to see
the inn. All the necessary professional contacts were initiated:
the mortgage officer at the bank, the building inspector, the real
estate agent and the lawyer who would handle the transaction. Don
and his wife talked the idea over with their grown-up children.
The following Sunday afternoon there was a meeting with the building
inspector, after which Don prepared the offer. On Monday morning
the mortgage was approved and shortly after lunch Don handed the
realtor a cheque as the downpayment for their retirement plan: the
Lunenburg Inn. Shortly after his arrival back in Toronto he received
a call from his realtor that they would now be the proud owners
of an inn as of May 1, 1995.
Ironically, the day that this real estate transaction was completed
Don had to go on a business trip to Vancouver, and he and his colleague
went out after work and celebrated with a bottle of wine. It was
not until months later that his coworker found out that Don had
a real reason to celebrate on this very day: the beginning of his
second career.
My delicious breakfast at the Lunenburg Inn
Back in Toronto Don wrote a letter of resignation to his company’s
president who was very surprised since he and most people in the
company had assumed that Don was a “lifer”, i.e. that
he would spend the rest of his working life at this company. Don
gave 6 months notice and would leave his position as Vice-President
by the end of August. This gave the couple sufficient time to organize
garage sales to get rid of unwanted furniture in Toronto. On April
28 their van left at 5 am, packed up their goods and arrived in
Lunenburg on April 30. Don had booked two weeks of vacation and
his son came along to spend his summer in Lunenburg – a perfect
arrangement since Don still had to wrap up his last few months with
his company in Toronto.
So from May onwards Gail and their son Drew started to operate
the bed and breakfast. Their daughter came to join them in July,
she had just finished her last year of high school and was starting
a degree at Wilfred Laurier University in September. Don was able
to leave his position early since by the end of July a replacement
had been hired. So on August 1 the entire family was united in Lunenburg.
Beautifully preserved Victorian features
The Lunenburg
Inn was furnished when Don and Gail purchased it but the owners
had taken personal pieces that had been used in the inn. The living
room was very sparse and some rooms were missing chairs and tables.
So for the first few weeks, Gail and her son Drew embarked on a
nightly routine of furniture moving: they needed to provide a full
compliment to those rooms rented for the night with the remaining
furniture decorating the living room for that night. That meant
that furniture pieces continuously had to be moved around from one
room to another. They had decided to leave their Toronto-area house
furnished while Don still lived there and to improve the chances
of selling it. It was sold only in late July (with a mid-August
closing) and Don had the moving company pack everything up in the
last week of July. The furniture arrived in Lunenburg in mid-August
and after its arrival they finally had a fully furnished living
room without the nightly furniture move.
The Lunenburg Inn had been an abandoned building, so it needed
a lot of work. From 1924 to 1979 it had been the “Hillside
Hotel”, a 13-room hotel (with one bathroom!) next to the town’s
train station. In the meantime the train service to Lunenburg has
been discontinued for many years. The property was abandoned for
a number of weeks just prior to being purchased by the previous
owners in 1988. When Don and Gail purchased the property in 1995
the building was very tired and in need of a complete redecoration
and upgrading, including furnishings, to bring it up to a 4 1/2
star property.
The breakfast room at the Lunenburg Inn
During their first winter of 1995 Gail stripped every piece of
furniture and diligently refinished it. All the couches and armchairs
were re-upholstered. Don himself learned how to fix the plasterwork
in this historic building, and in the dining room the couple removed
nine layers of wallpaper and four layers of paint, all accumulated
over the years since the building's construction in 1893. Carpets
were torn out and replaced, floors were refinished. So far in the
last 11 years, all the rooms have been redecorated at least three
times. Don feels very strongly that a bed and breakfast should never
look tired. His goal was to make the Lunenburg Inn a warm, comfortable
place with upscale features.
Now the Lunenburg Inn is in its 12th season and it is still holding
up well. Don and Gail meanwhile are ready to start their real retirement.
Don informed me that about 40% of bed and breakfast owners do not
reopen after their third season, another 40% of B&B owners discontinue
their business after 6 years. Only 5% of B&B owners make it
to the 10-year mark. Don adds that running the Lunenburg Inn was
“his second and final career”, and he and Gail had committed
to 10 years. Now 11 years later, they are ready to move on into
a well-deserved retirement.
One of the cozy bedrooms
But this industrious couple did not stop at being B&B owners:
from 1997 to late 2002 they also owned an M&M Meat Shop franchise
which meant that Gail managed the retail operation while Don together
with some hired help ran the bed and breakfast. Gail would be at
the store every day from 9 am to 6 pm, and Don would handle the
ordering and the accounting for the meat shop in addition to his
duties at the inn.
Today, the couple is focusing on the Lunenburg
Inn only. Their day starts at 6 am when fresh muffins are baked
for up to 19 breakfast guests. Guests can come to breakfast whenever
it suits their schedule. Don and Gail put a lot of effort into preparing
a healthy, filling and attractively prepared breakfast that always
includes a lot of fresh fruit. They work with a 7-day rotation for
the breakfast so none of the guests will get bored of having the
same dishes served twice in a row.
Lunenburg's landmark: the Lunenburg Academy
Breakfast takes place form 8 to 9:30 am and a helper in the kitchen
handles the plate layout, coffee and toast. Two housekeepers help
with the maintenance and cleaning chores, and all the laundry for
the inn is handled in-house. The Lunenburg Inn opens from the beginning
of May until late October. Don and Gail have made a commitment that
one of them will always sleep in the house when the B&B is in
operation. The guests may always have potential needs, and it is
important to have a competent contact person on site.
Don and Gail are proud of the fact that the Lunenburg Inn was the
first 4.5 star property in Lunenburg, a property that combines the
“warmth of home” with Victorian charm. 75% of their
business stems from repeat customers and referrals, evidence of
their commitment to an outstanding hospitality experience.
St. John's Anglican Church, another Lunenburg landmark
Personally, they live in a separate private apartment on the lower
level of the inn, and during the winter season they like to spend
time with their children and go to South Carolina for a couple of
weeks. There is always stuff to be done around the inn, and winter
is the perfect time for redecorating or upgrades. Don also likes
to go curling about four to five mornings in the week during the
winter.
The Lunenburg
Inn is currently listed for sale. Neither Don nor Gail are in
a rush to sell the property, and they realize that it is going to
take a special buyer who is going to be interested in running this
inn. Sometimes it could take as much as three to five years to sell
a property like this. Don and Gail indicated that once the inn sells,
they will stay in Lunenburg, and buy a simple family home. They
enjoy the weather here: summers are less hot and humid than in Ontario,
and there is less snow and rain. Gail adds that during the first
four years in Lunenburg she did not even need winter boots. And
falls are simply gorgeous in this quaint community.
Waterfront buildings in Lunenburg
I realized that here was a couple who had made some very strategic,
well thought-out decisions about their retirement. They knew exactly
where they were going and what their next step was going to be.
Few of us are so lucky as to have such a clear idea of where life
is going to take us. With these thoughts in mind I thanked Don and
Gail for their warm hospitality, and set off to continue my journey
along the Lighthouse Trail to Halifax.
Harbour view in Lunenburg
Useful
books about travel to Nova Scotia:
Related
articles:
My five whirlwind days in Nova Scotia
Acadian
history at the Grand Pré National Historic Site
400 years of history at Annapolis
Royal
Port-Royal, a French habitation from 1605
Dinner at the Garrison House
in Annapolis Royal
The Annapolis Royal
Graveyard Tour
The Garrison House Bed and Breakfast
Exploring the Evangeline Trail from
Annapolis Royal to Yarmouth
Learning about Mi'kmaq heritage at the
Bear River First Nation Heritage and Cultural Center
Victorian heritage in Yarmouth
The MacKinnon-Cann Inn: Where Home
and Garden Television meets the Travel Channel
Yarmouth explained - the Yarmouth
County Museum
My car is in the ditch in Chebogue
River
The Lighthouse Trail from Yarmouth
to Shelburne
The Lighthouse Trail from Shelburne
to Lunenburg
The Town of Lunenburg - a UNESCO World Heritage
Site
An interview with the owners of the
Lunenburg Inn
The Lighthouse Trail from Lunenburg to
Halifax via Mahone Bay and Peggy's Cove
Arrival in Halifax and a stunning
musical performance - DRUM!
A Halifax city tour, the city's
connection to the Titantic and the 1917 Halifax Explosion
Exploring the Halifax Harbourwalk and
Pier 21 - Canada's immigration museum
A ferry trip to Dartmouth and saying
goodbye to Halifax
An interview with Pier 21 -
Canada's immigration museum
Helpful
links for travel to Nova Scotia:
Tourism
Nova Scotia
Destination
South West Nova Scotia
Halifax Tourism
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