The Inn on Britannia Story
Follow our journey as we restored this 100+ year old home
I spent the last 30 years in the communication tower business having now retired. My wife Catherine is a Registered Midwife working out of Milverton and serving the surrounding area. We lived in the country about 25 minutes from really anywhere – Stratford, Listowel or Milverton.
If you know this area you know that from November to April it is constant snow storms and Catherine would have to venture out into the storm to deliver the baby. It took me 12 years to catch on that it would be so much better for her to move into town. So we decided to move into Stratford.
Our first day out with the realtor she asked us – “Would you be interested in a b&b?” Do you remember the home run that Joe Carter hit to win the ’93 world series. From the crack of the bat you knew that the ball was gone. The Jays had won the world series!! When the realtor asked me that question it felt just like that home run – “Yes!! I wanted a b&b”.
Catherine planned out our “new look” – the old character restored to look like a 1908 house built in 2022 with a touch of magnificence everywhere.
My wife and I had raised our family in Stratford than moved away for 16 years. Now was like moving home. Even though I was retiring from the tower business I wasn’t ready to sit on the couch – I still wanted to be involved. Being a b&b host gave us a business of relationship in our favourite city. We could be part of the local culture as well as welcome the world into it.
The property had great potential – a way of saying it is in rough shape. It was a 1/2 acre downtown property with a 20’ x 40’ pool. Lots of parking space. We were within a 10 minute walking distance to the new Tom Pattison Theatre. Catherine planned out our “new look” – the old character restored to look like a 1908 house built in 2022 with a touch of magnificence everywhere. What a large task! Two years later we had replaced and levelled all the floors, replaced all the electrical, plumbing, water lines out to the street – tenches everywhere.
Each guest room was completely insulated for sound. All the window had been replaced. Total air conditioning. Structural beams added; walls taken out; walls put in. All the original oak trim and doors restored. New oak trim added. Luxury ensuites added to each of the guest rooms. Heated ceramic floors for each ensuite.
