History of the B&B - Full Circle!
My baking career began at my family's Inn on the coast of Maine. When I was 23 years old. I returned to East Burke to work in the bakery of a local country store for a while before venturing into the world of small business ownership and operation.
I eventually converted the summer kitchen in my parents's home into a small commercial bakery. My day started before dawn, making donuts and muffins for the early morning risers. I would then continue my day baking to supply the various accounts that I hold with local stores, delivering the goods on my way home each day.
My business remained strictly wholesale until Dean Parker approached me with an idea of a bakery in Lyndonville. For the next 12 years, my bakery was located at a couple of sites in Lyndonville. It featured a few tables where customers could enjoy fresh baked goods with a cup of fresh hot coffee, or sandwiches on my homemade breads and daily homemade soup. Most of my business was word of mouth, and it offered a way for folks to sample my baked goods before becoming 'regulars' buying from the bakery or from the local stores carrying my products.
Wanting to simplify my business - and my life - I moved back to my roots in East Burke and reclaimed and enhanced the space I had started with in my parents' home. I had built quite a following by then and those people continued to come by for their favorites. Between that and filling the local store accounts, I remain very busy baking 5-6 days a week every week.
With the move back, I also decided that the house was perfect for a bed & breakfast and that running a B&B would make great use of those parts of the house not used by the bakery. The location near Burke Mountain and The Kingdom Trails continues to make it a perfect location for my guests, and a nice compliment to my bakery.