There are stories behind every house, new and old, and at some point, every mansion, every shack, and every bungalow was considered home to those who inhabited it. Many homes outlive their owners but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need proper care. Without repairs, houses age and may even face demolition. Today’s story is about a house that was deemed uninhabitable and later transformed by two adventurers into a charming bed and breakfast. According to *The York Daily Record*, nature-loving backpackers Jim and Jean Leaman purchased a Queen Anne house in 2006. At the time it was a ‘mess,’ and there was plenty of work to do. Over the next three years, they tended to the house, refinished the floors, mended the porches (seven in total), and decorated the house with 1870s-1980s furniture. Even though Jim a former teacher, was running a paint business and Jean was employed as an administrative assistant, they completed many of the repairs themselves. And in 2009, they opened their Lady Linden Bed and Breakfast. Guests have left nothing but positive reviews for Lady Linden. One woman wrote on TripAdvisor, ‘The outside of this Queen Anne beauty is only matched by the sumptuous interiors.’ ‘The hosts were charming and lovely to talk to, just like old friends,’ she added. This past May, the couple announced that they were putting their bed and breakfast on the market. Jim is now 75 and Jean 72, and are planning to retire. They told YDR that they are going to take their RV and travel to Utah and the Southwest. These people are certainly the type you wish you could meet and even though you haven’t, learning about them made that faint light in you shine a little bit brighter.The Queen Anne was built in 1887 for industrialist Samuel Nevin Hench. Together with his business partner and cousin Walker A. Dromgold, Hench owned manufacturing company for farm harvesting implements. Dromgold had a similar house built next door. These two were among the first houses seen in the Avenues district of York.
Over the years, the once beautiful home turned to shambles. Everywhere from the porches to the roof needed repairs. Local news reporter Angie Mason revealed that there were termites, crumbling walls, and old maple trees that hid the house. Enter in the Leamans, who purchased the property in 2006 and restored it back to its original charm and splendor.
After painstaking renovations, which the Leamans insisted on matching the original to be historically accurate, Lady Linden Bed and Breakfast opened in 2009. There are two guest suites, the Grecian Room and the Asian Room.
