Up from the ashes

BOONVILLE – Gene and Kriss Royer always wanted to own a bed and breakfast.

They bought the Victorian house at 519 High St. in Boonville in 2004 with the idea that someday they would turn it into a bed and breakfast.

Someday came more quickly than they thought.

In 2005, a fire interrupted their lives and accelerated their plans.

An error during tests by Ameren UE sent gas under high pressure through the lines.

“We were the first home it hit and both furnaces blew up,” said Kriss Royer.

The fire caused $150,000 worth of damage.

Gene Royer said the pocket doors downstairs were blackened, and would have gone up in a few more minutes.

Three years later, the High Street Victorian Bed and Breakfast is open for business.

They made some cosmetic changes to the house, and plan to do more.

Everything in the basement, where the fire began, was destroyed, including the family’s beloved Christmas decorations. Some of the walls in the dining room had to be replaced, along with floorboards on the first floor. Since the house is on the National Register of Historic places, repairs had to be historically accurate.

“You have to find boards that are the same type and the same age to make repairs, so it’s kind of a process,” Gene said.

“It’s really hard to find people to work on old homes,” said Kriss.

The Royers were out of their house for six months, and work on the house continued for another six months.

Today the house is a colorful, elegant place filled with antiques.

The house was built in 1880, with the second floor added over the next five years. The second floor features the original imported cypress planks.

The house has a number of interesting features. Speaker tubes run from the first floor to the second floor and to the basement. When someone blows into the tube, a whistle sounds on the other floor to alert the recipient of the call.

Light fixtures that use both gas and electricity are still part of the house.

“We’ve tried to put the home back to the way it could have been,” said Kriss, including period-appropriate colors for walls and furnishings.
The family has adjusted well to living with guests. The youngest of the couple’s three children is still at home, and all three enjoy meeting new people, Kriss said.

“We haven’t had anybody that we didn’t like so far. It’s been great. They have real interesting stories to tell, because a lot of these people have done bed and breakfasts for years, and some this is their first, so we want it to be special for both, which is kind of a unique challenge,” said Gene.

Breakfast begins with a homemade bread, such as pumpkin or zucchini, or perhaps Victorian cream scones with lemon curd or Devonshire cream.

The main course may be peach-stuffed French toast, a crab or asparagus quiche, a sausage, egg and cheese puff or biscuits and gravy.
Meat, usually bacon or sausage, from Jennings Premium Meats, New Franklin, is served with breakfast.

Kriss buys fresh foods from local suppliers wherever possible.

Kriss’ cinnamon rolls, often served with breakfast and as an afternoon snack, have proven a big hit with guests.

Their first guests, who arrived in May, were four sisters who talked late into the night, Kriss said, which reminded her of growing up with a big family.

“They were just wonderful and awesome,” Kriss said.

The Royers have hosted guests from as far away as Louisiana and California.

They did not expect to be so busy so soon.

Over the last few weeks, Kriss said she has had to decline reservations because the rooms were booked.

“I didn’t expect that to happen for at least a year,” she said.

At a Web site devoted to the Katy Trail — the B & B is a half a block from the trail — guests wrote of their good experiences at the bed and breakfast.

Some pledged to return and others enthused about the service.

“Your home was absolutely beautiful, the food superb and the atmosphere relaxing,” one commenter wrote.

The home will be open for tours during the first weekend of December.

Guests may stay in the Rose Room, $115 per night, or the Gold Room, $100. Call 660-882-7107.