By Tom Crawford
News Editor

The big picture Janet Kiley, one of Staples' newer residents, looked out over her 'great room' from the loft of the Landmark Inn. Her home is the former Faith Lutheran Church. She was hosting a group of ladies Staples World photo by Tom Crawford for the weekend who were using the large former church sanctuary for scrap booking. That is just one of the many uses she foresees for the near homebased business.

A new use for an old building is one of the goals set by Janet Kiley over the past two years as she embarked on a new business venture.

 

She now has her Landmark Inn open for business

"I've always wanted to rehabilitate an older building," the former real estate agent from the Twin Cities area said. "When I was just a kid, I remember my father driving through the warehouse district in Minneapolis and I was thinking about all those old buildings. Now I'm bringing a new life to this building."

Janet, originally from the north Twin Cities area, is the owner of the Landmark Inn, the former Faith Lutheran Church property at the corner of Third Avenue and 7th Street N.E. in Staples.

Lots of room Five women from the Albany area worked on their scrapbook projects while spending the weekend at the Landmark Inn in Staples. It was a return trip for this Staples World photo by Tom Crawford group, as they had come here in October and had an enjoyable time.

"It's the largest single family home in Todd County, " Janet said of the 12,000 square foot former church. She is operating it as a lodging facility, a retreat center, a place for anything from a scrapbooking weekend to a family reunion.

 

"It's not a bed and breakfast," she cautioned. I have no cooking facilities for my guests. They have to bring their own food or make other arrangements."

She hosted a group of eight women from the Albany area the weekend of March 21 and 22. The women slept in her five bedrooms and used the large 'great room' (the former Faith Lutheran sanctuary) for setting up tables and spreading out their books, photographs and other scrapbooking materials.

"It's just awesome to have this much space. She could have two workshop groups here at the same time," said Milissa Schmitt from St. Martin, one of the Albany area women. Four or five were busy getting started on their scrapbooking, another was downstairs quilting and two others had just returned from a shopping trip to Brainerd.

These same women had been some of her first customers last October. They liked the setting so well they returned. "They're here buying food, shopping and eating last night at a restaurant. They're helping put money back into the community," Janet noted.

She is working with Gail Warn at Art and Soul to hold a watercolor artist's workshop the first weekend in May. They can have up to 20 students working with Susan Pavlatos, an accomplished artist and teacher, from Cloquet.

She is also planning to have exercise classes in her great room on Saturday mornings, with Christy Hanson from Christy's Custom Fitness of Motley leading the yoga and other classes.

Janet has spent the past two years making changes to the old church building, part of which dates back to 1937. An office addition was added in 1953 and a 1983 addition expanded the church sanctuary. The church congregation moved to their new building in east Staples in 2005 and put their former church up for sale.

In 2006 she saw an internet advertisement for the building in a Multiple Listing Service and was intrigued enough to drive to Staples from the Elk River area. She immediately fell in love with the building, but spent five months negotiating and waiting for another previous deal to fall through. She became the owner in December of 2006.

"I'm thankful to be able to call this our own, with its incredible architectural features, its grand open spaces, cathedral beamed ceiling and gleaming hardwood floors." But those floors were mostly covered with carpet, and the carpet was glued down. So she started to work.

She spent weekends in 2007 in Staples, pulling up carpet, painting walls, putting up a new wall in the office area. She spent hours and hours trying to remove the adhesive used on the carpet, finally ending up hiring a professional floor finisher to finish that job.

She moved here in 2008, contracting for tuck pointing the brick exterior, for roof repairs (on the flat roof area) and for new windows throughout the upper level. She figures she worked for one full year, putting in 12 to 16 hours a day, on painting, refinishing woodwork, shopping for materials and furnishings, re-finishing the beautiful oak flooring and hiring and supervising contractors.

"I don't know how many gallons of chemical I've used to scrape up the adhesive on the floors," Janet said.

She's added a door to allow a rooftop deck above the office area and is in the middle of re-doing the choir loft. She found some used fir flooring that she has used to build a level floor in the loft.

In the office and classroom area, she has painted the walls and refinished the floors, plus changed the furnishings to use them for bedrooms.

But she has the pride of having sweat equity in her business and knowing she can do the work. Although she has more work to accomplish inside and out, she opened for guests in October, 2008.

Janet has many ideas for how her Landmark Inn can be used.

Her specialty will be retreats for scrapbooking, quilting and other groups looking for a cozy, intimate setting. But she's also looking for sportsmen and women who need a base location. Groups interested in four wheeling, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, cross country skiing and canoeing are just some targets. "We have a huge parking lot for all of your toys," she says on her website. (www.landmark-inn.net)

Her site also provides a listing of opportunities found around the Staples area, from fishing at Dower Lake to golfing at The Vintage.

"We also have hiking paths, swimming beaches, canoeing or tubing down the Crow Wing River, horseback riding at many local stables, motocross rallies and annual motorcycle benefit rides. Bring your Harley, Victory, BMW, Yamaha, Honda or Suzuki and feel the wind in your face while raising money," she says on her website.

"This is my full-time home," she said. She's rented out her former home in Elk River and is working for MnDOT out of Little Falls. She's recently become of member of the Staples Planning and Zoning Commission. "These older buildings like this have an architectural value that is just unbelievable. It's a very attractive building and living proof that older buildings need not be torn down."

For more information see her website or phone her at 763-754-1800.