ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608050005
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LU STAFF WRITER
She goes to bed every night with the filter in the coffee maker, the ingredients for the next morning's fresh-baked doughnut-hole muffins already mixed, and all the fruit washed and prepared to be cut by 7:30 a.m. weekdays and 8:30 a.m. weekends - when breakfast starts.
It's all part of Joanne Anderson's life as the owner of Clay Corner Inn, the largest bed and breakfast in Blacksburg. With a main house and two guest houses for a total of eight rooms, three living rooms and three kitchens, Anderson and her husband, John, have their hands full.
"You can never get caught up, you're running seven days a week," Anderson said. "And you need to like being at home because days have gone by before I could leave the house, not counting the constant trips I made to Kroger."
Clay Corner Inn was Per Diem Bed & Breakfast until about a month ago, when the Andersons changed the name. They bought the inn from Vic Huggins within five weeks of first seeing the house in 1994, and have since acquired the two houses behind the Inn.
"I knew the day I closed the deal for this house that I wanted to change the name," Anderson said. "I intend to compete with the hotels and be set up for the business travelers as well as the parents, alumni and leisure travelers."
In two years, the Andersons have painted all of inn's interior, added a bathroom to one of the guest houses' rooms to create an eighth room, and wired each bedroom for telephone and cable television.
"It's a physically demanding job," Anderson said. "Carrying the laundry baskets up and down the stairs, the vacuum cleaner from floor to floor, and scrubbing the bathroom every time someone leaves can be hard. I can be doing laundry until I go to bed at night, which is usually around 10 or 10:30."
Anderson's day generally starts between 6:30 and 7 a.m., which gives her enough time to shower, dress and make homemade muffins, French toast and eggs Benedict for breakfast.
Guests are offered a choice of two homemade cereals and freshly cut fruit. On weekdays, breakfast ends at 9 a.m. and on weekends, at 10. By the time she's cleaned up from breakfast, it could be 10:30 or 11 a.m. before the daily chores can begin.
"When we first opened the house, we were literally walking around boxes in the kitchen trying to make breakfast," Anderson said. "I was reading the coffee maker instructions because my husband and I don't drink coffee and we didn't know how to work one. I think you would definitely have to love housework first to be in this business."
Clay Corner is in the hub of the Blacksburg bed and breakfast industry, with Twin Porches Bed & Breakfast and L'Arche Bed & Breakfast a few blocks down the street. Anderson is also planning to open the Huckleberry House on her property in 1998.
One of the most interesting aspects of running Clay Corner Inn has been the international guests, said Anderson. She has housed students from Chile, Japan, Argentina and Slovenia.
"They're a real plus," she said. "I didn't expect this at all and they have truly enriched the entire experience."
Guest speakers for the university, leisure travelers, alumni and parents make up the rest of the guest list. She has had people throw tailgating parties in one of her guest houses for one of the football games.
Barbara Capozzi, owner of the Evergreen Bed & Breakfast Inn in Christiansburg, said that doing at least five loads of laundry every day can be hard, but the reward lies in the people she's met and how nice they are.
"Being able to stay here, enjoy our home and share it with other people is great," Capozzi said. "And if you enjoy your house, then chances are, everyone who visits it will feel the same."
Margaret Ray, who owns The Oaks Victorian Inn in Christiansburg - the first professional bed and breakfast in the area - said marketing the business is the hardest part of the job.
She advises that anyone interested in starting a bed and breakfast "take two aspirins, lie down and do comprehensive research."
"It's not an easy thing to do, and it's a very risky business," Ray cautioned. "About 45 percent of everyone who opens a bed and breakfast fail each year. And burn-outs are the most common reasons."
For any bed and breakfast owner who feels dragged down, Anderson advises taking some time off, even if it's only for a night or half a day.
"You have to be self-motivated, have a high energy level and a warm personality, but there are those days where things can drag you down," she said. "You just have to plan spaces where you can get away. You have to keep up your health."
The Andersons plan about four weeks of vacation time a year, including some overnight stays, and leave the inn to Tammie Frazier, one of their part-time staff. This keeps the inn open seven days a week, 365 days a year.
"There are mornings where you just don't want to get out of bed, but as my husband reminds me, what else would I be doing? I'd be getting up and working for someone else," Anderson said. "Being self-employed and working at home with my husband is really the best of all worlds for me."
Anderson says it's important for anybody looking into starting his or her own bed and breakfast or business to have a vision of what they want the business to be.
In the case of bed and breakfasts, Anderson said, the owner's personality is so much a part of the business that the owner must know what he or she wants it to be.
For instance, Clay Corner's separate dining tables instead of a large table are what Anderson wanted in a bed and breakfast. She thought that it would be nice if people wanted to eat alone or in small groups.
"The personal touch sets the bed and breakfast apart from other lodging facilities," Anderson said. "It's for people who want a homey atmosphere without having to do the dishes."
Joanne Anderson also is a free-lance writer whose articles occasionally appear in the New River Current.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Clay Corner Inn colorby CNB2. Twin Porches color STAFF 3. The Oaks Victorian Inn color
4. Evergreen Inn color