Our Labour of Love…

Project One: The Grand Entrance 

Rebuilding the condemned front staircase was integral to our vision of establishing two separate living spaces. As our neighbours can attest, this project kind of took on a life of its own. The first pour of the walls turned out beautifully, and we had high hopes for the stair pour. Sadly, when the time came, things didn’t go well. Ask Mike about that over a beer one day. 2019 quickly turned into 2020 with other projects needing our attention. Finally, two years in the making, the ol’ house now has a staircase befitting its grandeur.

Project Two: The Grounds 

Spanning two lots, the grounds at The Wild Turkey Inn are expansive! The work that evolved in 2019-2021 was all about guest flow, our dogs, and our love of gardening and the outdoors. Oh, and on March 4, 2020, Mother Nature visited us in the middle of the night to help with the landscaping. The massive western white pine that stood guard on the east side of the house fell over in a particularly fierce wind storm. After the snow melted that year, we finished up the guest parking area, built fences to keep the dogs secure, and planted at least fifteen new flower beds and three veggie gardens. It’s slowly becoming an oasis of bird song, and we think it’s going to be quite a magical event space one day!

Project Three: Basement Remediation 

The basement of the house was a dark and dank space complete with a coal encrusted gravel floor, spring run-off trickling through from end to end, and asbestos laden pipes. We knew it was in need of remediation, so when Covid hit and it seemed tourism was going to be shut down for an extended period of time, we decided to grab the pick ax and tackle it sooner rather than later. Mike laid a new french drain along the perimeter of the basement interior to redirect the groundwater seeping into the basement, and poured a concrete floor. Sounds simple, but it was heavy, wet, dirty work! It’s now bone dry and functions as part workshop, part overflow laundry, and part guest ski and bike storage.

Project Four: The FOUR Washrooms 

After taking possession of the house, we pretty quickly determined that the three ensuite guest washrooms needed to be updated in order to fit in with our vision. We also felt it was important to add a public washroom on the main floor, which we fondly refer to as The Tiny Toilet. Walls were built, doors were moved, and many many tiles were set. The curbless walk-in showers have impressed many a visitor! Our design choices give a nod to the Victorian period with patterned tiles, converted antique vanities, and whimsical art. In the Old Glory ensuite, we stripped and reused the original wainscotting and refinished the original clawfoot tub. Heated floors, high-end fixtures, and local bath products top off the spa-like experience!

Project Five: The Guest Kitchen 

Before we bought the house, we knew we wanted to include a guest kitchen space for visitors to use. The traditional bed and breakfast experience was not something that we ever included in our business plan. While we are not opposed to exploring food service options in the future, we wanted to set up self-catering accommodation, much like a European guest house. Determined to have the kitchen blend in as much as possible, we had custom moulding knives made and carefully matched the cupboard doors to the woodwork found elsewhere in the house. The kitchen has been equipped with top notch appliances and cookware. We’re hoping even a chef would enjoy cooking in this space!

Project Six: The Rest of the Interior 

As anyone who has lived through a renovation knows, one thing leads to another! Some of these final projects were planned, and the domino effect can be blamed for the rest. We intentionally added a guest laundry room and inserted a doorway to divide the two living spaces. We also ended up carving out two new storage closets, restoring all the trim in the entire guest side of the house, adding custom cut mouldings to the new spaces, and painting all the walls and ceilings (except one room). This work made for a long winter of 2021, but with springtime, we were rewarded with our vision finally coming to light.

The Future

For now, we are going to take a deep breath and enjoy welcoming travellers into our restored heritage inn. Next year, we will begin Phase II: renovating our half of the house! One day Phase III might become a reality, with our dreams of converting the unfinished attic into a suite or multi-purpose space of some sort.

So there you have it! Now you know the story behind the two crazy turkeys who bought the old bank house and turned it into The Wild Turkey Inn. If you ever find yourself in Rossland, come knock on the door, and we’ll give you the first-hand tour!