Did you know that just down the road in Foley is a beautiful, quiet, relaxing Bed & Breakfast? You do now. Meet the Sable Inn, run by Bill and Sandy Stevens. The house that is now the Inn was put up for sale in 2007 – it was to be sold or destroyed. John Foley – the namesake of the town – originally built the home for his sister in 1901. After the Stevens purchased the home, they moved the house to their property 1 mile west of Foley and parked it in a picturesque field to make way for its new adventure.
“It ended up being about a 10-year remodel project. We did 90% of it ourselves when we had the time and finances, thus the reason for the long timing. We had always thought that the house would make a great B&B and got a lot of support from our community to follow through with that idea. As we remodeled, we tried to keep the feel of the house as it would have been when it was built over 100 years ago.”
Aside from the home belonging to an ‘original Foley’, it felt right to the Stevens that the house stay here for other reasons, too. “We love living in the center of the state. Within a short time, you can be at bike trails, state parks, golf courses, flower parks, shopping, etc. We are 15 minutes from St. Cloud, about an hour from Minneapolis. The businesses in Central MN are all so good about supporting one another. We need each other to succeed. My husband, Bill and I are both from southern MN We met in college, married, and settled in the St. Cloud area because he was finishing his education in Industrial Ed. at SCSU. We love Central MN; you’re never far from anything.”
Sable Inn isn’t your typical Bed & Breakfast. “It’s just a little different than many B&B’s in that we don’t live in the house, which seems to make our guests feel that much more comfortable. We live next door so we are close in case they need anything but far enough away to give them privacy.”
“We do our best to make our guests feel special during their stay with us. We have a private 4-acre pond that is both deep and clean, so we added a beach for swimming and stocked it with fish. We have a canoe and 2 kayaks that our guests can use while they stay and where else can you fish without a license? In the winter, (weather and conditions permitting) we groom a cross-country ski trail around the lake and clear a spot for ice skating. If that’s not your idea of fun, you can snuggle up to the fireplace and read a book or warm up in our new addition, a Finnish wood-burning sauna. We also serve a full breakfast each morning.”
The Sable Inn property has also hosted weddings of 100-120, “People can support our business just by letting others know that we are here. We have 5 rooms/double occupancy, one of which is a full little apartment. We love the process of owning and running a B&B and are always learning what works and what doesn’t. We have more to learn but are having a great time doing it.”
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