Business Spotlight: Historic Charm, Modern Comfort

Among the gracious Victorian houses on Walnut Street in downtown Springfield stands a demure painted lady, its sage-green clapboard trimmed in buttery yellow with accents of burgundy and deep blue.

A veranda spans the breadth of the 130-year-old structure once named the McCann-Jewell House, where white wood rockers invite its guests to sit a spell.

In April 2021, the Walnut Street Inn was purchased by Faucett & Bates Inc., an entity that includes 80-year-old Mary Faucett and her sons, Andy and Chuck Faucett, who also own the two locations of Italian eatery Bambinos Cafe.

Madalyn Faucett, Mary’s granddaughter, is managing partner of Walnut Street Inn. She says it was a daunting notion, buying a Victorian inn during a pandemic, but one that her family thought might also be a lot of fun.

“We were one of the fortunate businesses that made it out of COVID,” Faucett says, noting Bambinos was able to adapt well to carry-out service.

“Andy made the decision to try to branch out a little bit, and we thought the inn might be a good opportunity for us,” she says. “He was right. It worked out.”

The Faucetts bought the business from Gary, Paula and Catherine Blankenship, who had purchased it from the inn’s founders, Gary and Nancy Brown, in 1996. Gary Blankenship died suddenly in 2019, and Madalyn Faucett says Paula did an admirable job keeping it up, but ultimately decided to sell.

“It’s an old, old structure, and it always requires a lot of maintenance,” Faucett says.

The new owners completed a major kitchen remodel in 2023 and stayed open the entire time, Faucett says, though there were limitations on the volume they could accommodate. A major repair of the house’s ventilation system was also undertaken.

At the same time, guest rooms were modernized, with smart TVs, new bedding and lush robes bearing the Walnut Street Inn monogram.

While professional help was obtained from Multi-Craft Contractors Inc. for plumbing and Barton Electric Contracting Inc., Faucett says she was able to complete a lot of the redecorating and minor renovations herself.

Additionally, her uncle, Jeremy Bates, is a skilled carpenter who had a hand in many of the major repairs.

Also in on the renovation: her grandmother – nonna, in Italian – Mary.

Mary Faucett is the original Nonna of Nonna’s Italian Cafe, which the family opened in 1994 and operated until selling it in 2006.

“One of my favorite stories to tell now is how she renovated the kitchen and back sunroom,” she says of work to the inn. “Eighty years old, and she’s in there with a belt sander, sanding away. You can’t stop Mary Faucett.”

Rooms to let
The Walnut Street Inn advertises 11 guest accommodations, including five rooms in the main house, four in the carriage house out back and a room and a larger suite in the Cottage Inn, a house located two doors east of the main building. Each has a private bathroom.

Faucett says economy rooms average $140 per night, while luxury rooms average $220.

Half of the bed-and-breakfast equation is the dining component, she notes, and the inn employs Le Cordon Bleu-trained Chef John Clayton, who was a mainstay of the inn before the Faucetts came on. The meal service is open to the public upon reservation, Faucett says.

When all rooms are rented, the inn can accommodate 26 guests.

Chef Clayton plans the menu week by week, Faucett says.

“We like to do savory one day and sweet the next,” she says, adding that her personal favorite dish is the chef’s lemon butter cream pancakes with a serving of bacon and fresh fruit.

Also popular: cinnamon banana French toast with candied roasted walnuts and bacon.

Savory selections include frittatas with sausage and goat cheese sourced from Terrell Creek Farm in Fordland.

The inn can also serve as an event space for gatherings of up to 50, and outside catering is permitted, she says.

Walnut stalwart
The house was built as a private residence in 1894, the year its owner, Charles McCann, also assumed ownership of the Springfield Wagon Co., according to a company history by the History Museum on the Square.

The inn’s website states McCann lived in the home with his wife, Katherine, and took pride in the home, which cost him nearly $6,000.

“I had Henry Hornsby cast for me 20 iron Corinthian columns, which gave the house a very handsome appearance, and when finished, it was one of the best-looking homes in the street,” the website quotes McCann as saying.

The home passed through other hands, including Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Dennis and Mr. and Mrs. Harry S. Jewell, and then to Dr. Max and Barbara Rosen; Dr. Rosen operated a medical practice out of the home.

In 1987, it was purchased by Gary and Nancy Brown, later Nancy Dornan, who renovated it into a bed and breakfast, opening for guests in 1988, the website states. The Blankenships were next in line as owner-caretakers of the historic home. Faucett said it went on the market for $899,900 after Gary Blankenship’s death, and the Faucetts bought it for $675,000.

Last year, the business brought in about $250,000 in revenue, Faucett says, but this year it’s on track to make $300,000. Increasing revenue is a goal, she says, and an increase in occupancy is helping her to pull that off now that major renovations are complete.

Faucett says the business has included some unanticipated obstacles and challenges, but mostly it has been rewarding.

“It’s just at a completely different pace from the restaurant industry,” she says. “It’s not as adrenaline-spiking as the restaurant business, but it’s open 24/7, so you’ve got to be vigilant.”

Amanda Layman contributed.