By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
WAKEENEY — A couple in WaKeeney has turned a crumbling nursing home into a beautiful Airbnb with a coffee bar, and bar and grill.
The former nursing home, 320 South Ave., WaKeeney, was built in 1970 and closed in 2017. The inn is conveniently located right off Interstate 70 at the west WaKeeney exit
David and Tami Green, partners in the business, said the building was in very poor repair when they and a partner bought the property.
Pipes had frozen and burst in the building, ruining the ceiling. The original hospital tile was also still in place.
What guests will find today is nothing reminiscent of the building's past. The couple aimed for an 1860s Western feel. The tile was taken up, and the floors were refinished. David estimated they removed 15,000 tiles from the building.
Tami used antiques and thrifted furniture to decorate the rooms. One room has a sink stand made from an old, solid-wood school desk.
They used wood from an old gym floor on one of the suite's walls.
"If you purchase things new, things are so high," David said.
The Morning Rose coffee shop's condiment table is an antique pie safe. The safe still contained old deeds from a former owner, and Leann Dexter thought it best to leave the historical documents where they were.
The tea and water canisters are set on an antique kerosene stove, which still has its original glass fuel bottle.
The Greens took mahogany doors from the building to construct the bar in Rosie's Bar and Grill. The back of the bar includes a lighted mirror framed by ornately carved wood. Tami said they wanted to give the restaurant the feel of an 1860s gentleman's club.
The Prairie Rose Inn opened in December with 16 rooms. This includes singles with queen beds, doubles and larger family suites with three queen beds.
The owners remodeled the physical therapy room into a suite with a kitchenette.
The names of the rooms were all taken from towns that once existed in Trego County.
Leann Dexter manages the Morning Rose coffee shop at the inn. Dexter is a transplant to Trego County, but she said she loves the community.
She grew up on a guest ranch, and that's where she picked up her cooking skills.
The shop offers espresso and associated drinks as well as homemade breakfast seven days a week.
From 6 to 7 a.m., the shop offers coffee and pastries. From 7 until close at about 11 a.m., breakfast is served. The shop opens at 8 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday but closes later on those days.
The coffee shop even opened on Christmas and was packed, Dexter said.
She said her from-scratch biscuits and sausage gravy, made with half and half, has been a hit. She also makes a German breakfast casserole with sausage, brioche French toast, eggs Benedict, crepes, and waffles in addition to standard breakfasts like bacon and eggs.
"[I do] pretty much anything and everything," she said. "If someone wants something special, I say OK. ... I don't do oatmeal."
She runs regular specials, especially on holidays and Sundays.
There's limited seating in the coffee bar, but ample table seating in the adjacent lobby.
"I think it is nice that we can do something like this for the community," Dexter said. "The people here have been so wonderful."
Rosie's Bar and Grill is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The grill will offer appetizers as well as chicken-fried chicken, hamburgers, steak sandwiches plus a daily home-cooked meal special such as lasagna.
The inn has a small conference room that could also be used for meals for larger families. There is also outdoor patio seating with an additional bar.
Rosie's offers full bar service with a selection of beers on tap. A selection of Shiloh Vineyard wine, based in Trego County, also will be offered.
The inn also has a laundry facility open to guests. The public dog park is across the street, as well as an out-of-service F-14 Tomcat that is on loan to the city.
"We are trying to get people to come to WaKeeney and stay as a destination," Tami said. "That was one of our main goals."
Single rooms cost $100 per night to $160 for suites.
You can book through Airbnb. The inn's website is still under construction, but you should be able to book direct through that site once it's up.
You can follow Prairie Rose Inn on Facebook.