Ruth Ellsworth's Birthplace - Old Guest Home Remembrances

Was talking to a young man yesterday who is building a house on the site where Ruth (Leach) Ellsworth was born on Route 104A. It has what I think is the most beautiful view of any place in town. He is working on getting a permit to make it a Bed & Breakfast, which certainly makes a beautiful place for one. Although he doesn't have the permit yet, he is building everything to code as far as electrical & plumbing, so that it would not be a show stopper if he gets the permit. Apparently they have much more rigid requirements for a Bed & Breakfast than they do for a regular home.

Back in the 1950s, my mother-in-law, Kay Hoben opened a "Guest Home", I believe they called them back then. Their home was located between where Ed Paquin lives now and John Mitchell. While she was running it she would get postcards from people who would reserve a room she had set up and many would return year after year while she was running it. She would usually provide them a great homemade breakfast, as only Kay could do. I have no idea what sort of requirements there were to open one of these places, but you can see in the small picture below, my brother-in-law, Bernard Hoben with his two boys Spencer & Brian near the "Kays" sign which had a floodlight shining on it in the evening.

We had a few restaurants come and go also back in those early days and Kay would often get a call from the CVPS guys working in the area to see if she would fix them dinner. Sometimes she didn't have much notice and would have to run down to Parsons Store, just a short ways away to pick up something for these guys with a hearty appetite to eat, which naturally also included desert. Again, today, you most likely would not be allowed to do this.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Bed & Breakfast places within the Fairfax Boundaries. I believe that there was or still is a request for one where Joe & Janet Peloquin used to live in the big house in Mill Hill, but some water & sewer hookup limitations have prevented that from happening.

In regards to the CVPS Power Company Line Crew, well they still eat here in town, but usually at The Country Pantry. You will see the trucks parked there and even their helicopter from time to time. I believe when they are working well into the night too at times that Sam will actually open up for them to provide them food during these occasions.