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The Nauvoo Grand Bed & Breakfast Now Open!
Just up Parley Street from the Midwest's largest collection of restored historic preservation sites, nestled behind a canopy of 145-year-old trees, sits an unexpected historic treasure, the Nauvoo Grand. This turn-of-the-century home was built by Cecil J. Baxter, whose family had come to Nauvoo with the Icarian movement in 1855. The Baxters planted vineyards and opened their winery, originally living in an old Mormon home until they built the two-story brick home which stands today on the same site. The basement walls display a number of stones salvaged from the original Nauvoo Temple just a few blocks away. Today, the old Baxter home has been transformed by Cassie and Kent Barrett into Nauvoo's only luxury accommodations, offering the grace and intimacy of Victorian times. Perched on a gentle rise, the Nauvoo Grand is still surrounded by the Baxter family vineyards and sits directly across the street from Baxter's Vineyards, Illinois' oldest winery, still owned and operated by the fifth generation of Baxter's, Kelly & Brenda Logan. As you approach the Nauvoo Grand, you will note the exquisitely detailed brick and the elaborate Victorian trim under the eaves and around the front and side porches. After stepping through the carved front door with etched glass, your eyes will immediately be drawn to the dramatic copper-colored pressed metal ceilings in the entry, which extend throughout most of the main floor and complement the restored copper door hardware found throughout the home. Reservations are available starting June 1, 2009! Contact Baxter's Vineyards, Kim Orth or Brenda Logan for reservations and details. Baxter's Vineyards may be reached at (800) 854-1396; Kim Orth may be reached at (319) 325-3852; Brenda Logan may be reached at (319) 325-3853. The Inn In addition to your private bedchambers, all of our guests enjoy access to our main floor library, where you can sit in comfort with a good book or good friends beneath the beautiful copper-colored tin ceilings and exquisite antique chandelier and look out to the vineyards and orchards to the south and north. If you are lucky, perhaps local composer Alan Birdsall will drop by while you are there and play something for you on his beautiful Steinway Grand piano that sits in the corner of the library. Each of our bed chambers is furnished with beautiful antiques and offers private bath, cable television, DVD player and radio/CD. One bedchamber, "Esther's Garden", is located on the main floor at the back of the house on the foundation of the old Mormon home and features a private attached bath with jetted tub. The elegantly detailed wood banister accompanies you up the center staircase to the second floor, which features three antique-filled bed chambers, each with private bath (one not attached) and beautiful views of the one-acre grounds and surrounding vineyards and orchards. Two of the baths feature jetted tubs. From the second floor another staircase takes you to "Eleanor's Attic" which encompasses the entire third floor with a queen size bed in one sleeping area, two twins in another and its own private bath. While in the Nauvoo area, please also consider treating yourself to a stay at our sister inn, The Grand Anne Bed & Breakfast, a leisurely 15-20 minute drive south along the Mississippi River in Keokuk, Iowa. The Grand Anne is a renowned 22-room Queen Anne Revival mansion surrounded by two park-like acres on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. The Inn was recognized by Country Inns Magazine in February, 1998 as one of the "Year's Top Five Affordable Luxuries" and by the Iowan Magazine, described as "A George Barber home fit for presidents and fairy princesses."
The Innkeepers Brenda Logan Kim Orth The Owners Cassie and Kent currently reside in Columbus, Ohio, where Kent is the Senior Managing Director for Veris Consulting, LLC, a boutique firm providing forensic accounting and expert witness services. Cassie holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University but has been a "stay at home mom" for the couple's seven children. Also, Cassie has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Houston with honors. Kent has Bachelors and Masters degrees from BYU in Accounting and spent nine years as a CPA with Ernst & Young and 12 years as a financial executive in the insurance industry, before joining Veris in 2003. Over the past 30 years, the couple has resided in Provo (UT), Overland Park (KS), Jacksonville (FL), St. Louis (MO), Franklin (TN), Houston (TX), Keokuk (IA) and Columbus (OH). |
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Baxter's Vineyards & Winery 2010 E. Parley Street PO Box 342 Nauvoo, IL 62354 Phone: (217) 453-2528 Toll free: (800) 854-1396 Fax: (217) 453-6600
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