A victorian vacation

The Hilty Inn in Versailles, a quaint bed and breakfast.

The Hilty Inn Bed and Breakfast sits on the town square.

Charis Patires

Just steps from the Morgan County Courthouse, one of the oldest homes in town is now a bed and breakfast. For 16 years, Doris Hilty has been brewing coffee and greeting guests first thing in the morning at the Hilty Inn.
The Victorian home first caught her eye while house hunting in the Kansas City area.
"My sister Kathy said, 'Let us go see it.' I said, 'Why would I want to look here?' The rest is history,” she says.
The Inn has four guest rooms and a sitting room. Before each guest arrives, Doris makes sure there is a plate of fresh baked cookies in the rooms and turns on ragtime music in the entryway.
"I was raised here in Morgan County on a dairy farm. Hospitality is a family gift that I am passing on to this bed and breakfast business." 

Doris Hilty, in the kitchen at the bed and breakfast.

What do you know about the home?
It was built in 1877 by the owner of a general store, John Lumpee. The Lumpee family owned the home until 1951. Norman and Clara Boeschen purchased it at that time. Norman, being the very proud owner of the house and his love of the old original home, took extra attention to preserve it. That is the reason it stands today. Their daughter, June, sold the house to me in 1993 for the purpose of becoming a bed and breakfast. It became known as The Hilty Inn to honor my family, who are Swiss Mennonites.

Who are some of your most memorable guests?
I do have business travelers, as a niche, I would say. One guest wanted eggs for breakfast, but he requested Fruit Loops, also. He stayed nearly four months. That was an unusual request. When people stay here for an extended period of time, I try to find those things out so they feel at home. Memorial weekend is my favorite weekend because the Versailles High School has a reunion. I hear stories about the history of Versailles that growing up here I didn't know about.

What's it take to run a place like this?
Some guests come down for coffee early, so the alarm sounds between 5 and 6 a.m. I cook in an open kitchen and guests sit and watch or visit while I am working.  I have to get the recipe measured and going while I am alone or it can taste funny. The more I can prep ahead, the better things can go. When guests leave, I tidy the rooms, do a market run, take a nap or read for five minutes. I rarely lunch out. My favorite part of being an innkeeper is visiting with my guests, seeing them enjoy the food, knowing that they had a good rest and reading what they wrote in my room journal. Of course, I do like it that I get paid for the visit.