Hudson Inn History
I want to welcome you to the Hudson Inn and thank you for choosing to stay here. It gives me great pleasure to share this beautiful six bedroom Queen Anne structure with others. Thirty years ago I went to my first B&B and fell in love with it. Since then I planned on owning and operating my own B&B one day. After 20 years of marriage and raising two wonderful children, I was on my own and working part time at the local library. I believed my dream had died but the Good Lord had other plans for my life and He still does.
Since then I have worked full time outside the home, finished my bachelor’s degree in Business, & went to Macomb Community College's Culinary School.
After five years, I bought my home in December, 2000 with the purpose of turning it into a bed & breakfast. I live here full time and continue to work full time outside the home. Have you ever seen the movie “The Money Pit”? It’s the reason for the day job!
The house has been a private home since its construction in 1901 by retired Navy Captain William F. Millen.
Before I could open up the B&B I had a few “jobs” that needed my attention. The first project was to preserve the carriage barn. The back half of the barn’s roof had a hole in it since a tree fell on it in 1976! With 24 years of neglect, I had to tear off the entire back half of the rotten roof and the attached lien-to. I kept the cement slab (one day to become a patio/porch) but chose to rebuild the barn back to its original size…a conventional three stall horse & carriage barn. Now the Captain’s “sailing ship” weathervane will continue to soar high above the cupola for another 100 years. I am very proud to have been able to save this beautiful piece of history.
Next I tackled the bathrooms. The second story bathroom was a half bath so I took the back half of the closet in the Golden Rod room and turned it into a shower room. The bathroom on the lower level was originally a half bath also. I enlarged it and put in a two-person tiled shower.
The first floor bathroom was actually two separate rooms that had to be gutted. The best part was finding the original beaded board under two layers of drywall. It was painted a multitude of pinks, purples, & bright green so…I turned the beaded board over and used the un-painted wood side! Next I had to remove many layers of flooring. I took up four floors before I came upon oak parquet. Although there are at least four more floors under this one, I decided to stop and expose this beauty for all to see. More bathrooms have been planned and will be added as my business grows.
When the kitchen and dining room and front porch ceilings started to leak, I had to “bite the bullet” and replace the roof. It had to be stripped down to the original cedar shakes and re-roofed. Did I mention the Money Pit? The boiler furnace was 45 years old and rusted through. In its place I now have two smaller hot water boilers along with a new hot water heater and never before…air conditioning. Check out those 5" circles on the floors and ceilings! In 2001, I was denied approval from the Village to open for business because I did not own my own driveway. I found out later that I only owned 12” of my next door neighbor’s dirt driveway! Adding a driveway to a 106 year old home & property was not easy!!
The best part of restoration is adding the finishing touches…wallpaper, paint, stain & decorations. I bought five different bedding ensembles and decorated the bedrooms around them. In my first marriage, we collected antiques…lots! So I display them all rather than keep them in cupboards.
Eleven years ago, I started the restoration of the wrap-around front porch that had been neglected as bad as the barn was. Rotten wood was replaced with a new floor and staircases. Footings had to be reinforced. I am stripping 109 years worth of paint off of the remaining wood. It should be completely restored in 2011.
I am removing the aluminum siding the summer of 2011 from the house and restoring the wood siding to its original glory this spring!
On June 5, 2010, I married for the second time to a wonderful man named Rick Salsido. We met online and discovered that we lived 8 houses from each other! We married in a garden wedding at the Hudson Inn with family and friends witnessing our love.
Rick is a gifted musician. He is lead vocal in his band Wayward Wind playing with his brother. Rick plays bass, guitar, drums, keyboard and sings lead vocal. He teaches music lessons and owns a painting company with his brother.
Oh how sweet it is to have a painter in the family!! We painted the carriage barn, the parlors and the front foyer/staircase for the wedding and partial painting on the wrap-around porch. Nothing like a wedding to get lots of projects done!
We so look forward to sitting over breakfast with our guests…becoming friends. Come and join us!
Once again, thank you for staying at the Hudson Inn.
Lori Hudson-Salsido & Rick Salsido
Owner/Innkeeper’s
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