Mont Rest Inn

Mont Rest Inn is located in Bellevue Iowa. A sweet little Bed and Breakfast sitting on a hill overlooking the town. There is so much history in the little place and we are loving it here. I sit in a sun room with windows all around, comfy chair and peaceful relaxing music. Ah, to sit here in peace with no place to be. The house reminds us of a museum we recently visited of General Dodge. Each room is full of vintage furniture 100 years old and decorated for Christmas with beautiful decor. It is a sight right out of a magazine or movie. I am loving it. Mark is so into historical places, he too is taking it all in. We decided after harvest and an early birthday for Mark that we would go away for the weekend. We randomly looked on the internet for places to visit in Iowa. We came across Mont Rest Bed and Breakfast and have been amazed. The hospitality is over the top and the food, out of this world!! Our room had beautiful wood furniture, windows all around with a view overlooking the river. We had a decorated Christmas tree in our room, fireplace, and jacuzzi tub. The stairwell to the second floor where all the rooms are is 100 year old and Christmas greenery, lights, and bows accented it. They had every room open filled with lights, decorations, a tree in each room and music playing. There is a spiral staircase to the top with one circular bedroom and an outdoor balcony with an outdoor hot tub. They thought of everything. This place is so cute.

Friday evening we went out to dinner and found an old mill that was turned into a restaurant. The structure and walls were part of the mill and at one time there was a water wheel.

The smells coming for the kitchen fill the house and make your stomach growl. Right now there is fresh banana bread smells floating through. Mmmm. When we arrived, there were freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Not the generic kind made from premade dough, but homemade and oh so yummy. This morning we had breakfast served family style at the giant table decorated so lovely for the holidays. We had so much food, blueberry muffins, pastries, omelets, hash browns, bacon, fresh berries, and orange juice. There was coffee and cappuccinos. There was even fresh flowers and roses on the tables. We ate on fine china. WE got to know the people staying. There was only 2 other couples and one interesting man who critiques Bed and Breakfasts.  The house was not full nor will it be tonight. The entire place has 13 rooms, each very different from the next. They are eloquently decorated to fit the era of the late 1800's when the house was built.

The house has quite the story and history. I will include some of it from the website.Baker built a round room at the top of the house for high stake poker games. Professional gamblers used to ride the steam paddle wheelers from points south of St. Louis just to get into gambling games in the tower at Mont Rest. You had to be a high roller just to be invited to these high stake games. Several local farms exchanged hands late at night in the round room at the top of Bellevue's Castle. Gambling was illegal on the shores in those days. Mont Rest soon became infamous for its gambling.

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In 1895 a doctor of questionable credentials from St. Louis, Missouri called a hand in a poker game with a $6,000 bet. Mr. Baker thought he could beat this man’s hand, and being short of cash offered the deed to his beloved Mont Rest to call the bet. The man accepted and the cards were laid down. Baker then proceeded to go downstairs and tell his wife that they had two weeks to move out. In 1895 $6,000 in cash was the buying equivalent of in excess of 1 million dollars today.The doctor who won the hand only lived in Mont Rest for a couple of years, seeing patients intermittently and treating all sorts of illness with mild electrical shock treatments. Doc sold the house, and the house was sold again to a nationally prominent figure named Frank Weinshank who was a business partner of Henry Ford’s.Weinshank spent his life and his fortune trying to get a telephone line established before WWI between Mont Rest and the Pope in Rome. During the 20's, and Weinshank's ownership a huge fire went right up the side of the house. And after Weinshank the house went to a series of owners, including a priest, until it became owned by Mr. Gibson who bought Mont Rest in 1941He owned it for 38 years but only lived there for 13 years. The house was rented to a local war hero for a short time but then ultimately stood unoccupied and subsequently abandoned for a quarter of a century. Mr. Gibson then abruptly sold it to Elmer and Marsha Peters of Tipton, Iowa in 1979.  They were going to renovate the massive house and use it as a family retreat. They soon realized that renovation of “the Haunted Castle of Bellevue” was going to occupy more time than they had to devote to such a large undertaking. The Peters’ family sold it to a young couple who started remodeling Mont Rest. They had never gone through a renovation before and underestimated the costs and time such a gargantuan endeavor would entail. Facing financial ruin they turned the house over to the bank and filed for bankruptcy protection. At which time the present owner, Christine Zraick risked everything she owned and purchased the property on October 31, 1986 from the local bank starting the long journey to its total restoration.She hired artisans, both locally and imported, to accurately bring the dilapidated structure back to life. Christine was repeatedly warned that the house was cursed and held certain disaster for anyone who owned it. She scoured the countryside for appropriate furnishings.She opened up the previously neglected residence as an improved version of its former self. The Grand Opening was on April 1st 1987. She said she wanted to open on April Fool’s Day to remind her what a fool she was for taking on a project like the restoration of Mont Rest. The Country Inn soon became famous for its beautiful, peaceful views of the Mississippi River, and the fun parties the innkeeper would throw centering around murder mystery plots and gourmet food.Ten years after opening Mont Rest Inn, disaster struck.  In 1996 on Christmas Eve, Mont Rest experienced a tremendous fire.  Five fire stations with more than fifty firemen battled the blaze late into the night using over 650,000 gallons of water to battle the blaze on that bitterly cold night.  The tower crashed into the second floor and the roof was almost completely destroyed. The house moved off its foundation because of the massive infusion of water. Emotionally devastated, Christine was not sure whether Mont Rest could be rebuilt. Her decade long dream had literally gone up in smoke. However, her strong feelings of stewardship towards the property compelled her in the Spring of 1997 at least try to recreate the beautiful mansion that had been standing there for over a century. Everyone from restorative architects to structural engineers told her rebuilding would be impossible. She listened carefully and fortunately ignored their advice. As a result the Mansion rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Today Mont Rest is back to its Victorian splendor. Everything that the fire had destroyed has been replaced with historically accurate art work, woodwork, chandeliers, and furniture.  Christine literally searched the world to find each and every piece. One of her greatest joys is sharing this Victorian wonder with her guests.

Saturday after our delicious breakfast, we went for a drive to a park that overlooked the town and river. It was chilly, peaceful, and pretty. There was a train that slowly made its way through the town.  All roads around  seemed to be curvy. Mark had a massage at noon and I sat down in the cute sun room to blog. I enjoy the quiet peace. Pretty soon I discovered freshly baked chocolate brownies. Oh the food here is worth moving in. I had a lazy day spent blogging and reading books, and eating brownies. In the evening we participated in our very first Murder Mystery dinner theater. The single man had participated in 7 others. We were fully costumed for the part. We were each given a part and got to pick from a giant closet of clothes, shoes, and props. It was fun to get dressed up and I loved my dress. You started to feel and act the part of your character. Our murder mystery was done so that none of us knew who the murderer was. I was the nurse who took care of the victim. Mark was the greedy lady's man nephew who wanted his money. It was all quite scandalous.
  We started out getting to know the other 2 couples and single man that were part of the dinner. We had appetizers and asked questions. The manager of the house wears many hats in her job. She is hospitality, greeter, cook, waitress, entertainment, and pretty much handles it all. Tonight she played two roles in the Murder Mystery and she has a wonderful personality. She is so full of joy and loves what she does. Eventually we were seated and had an amazing meal. Every person at our table chose the steak. I thought that was unusual with the 4 choices we had. I could go on and on about the food. Then there was the chocolate cake for dessert. IT just couldn't get any better!! During the meal we continued in our character parts asking questions and accusing one another. In the end we had to go around and tell who you think did it and explain why. A couple people thought it was me, the nurse. I had a theory and I ended up correct. I was the only one in the group that got it correct. It was such a fun night and our evening Murder Mystery lasted several hours. Our stay in Bellevue was so worth the long drive. I would recommend it and hope to go back! On our way home, I looked up an old college friend and we made a drive to stop by. I knew Mark would have a lot in common with Jody. He raises Angus cattle and sells bulls. He was out choring when we stopped, so we got to see his set up. He lives on top of a picturesque hill overlooking the beautiful countryside. Sure enough, it was me that had to peel Mark away. I think they could have talked for hours. Jody’s wife and daughter stopped briefly and I got to meet them too.