Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie And Richard Jones.
Hi Julie and Richard, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
While raising our family in Texas – our home always seemed to be the center for hosting our friends and family -partly due to Julie’s love for cooking and entertaining, partly due to having the house with the pool and covered patio!! Hosting has always been a part of our lives coupled with our love for bed and breakfast experiences after having first stayed at one on an anniversary trip in Maine. After that first B&B stay – we would always look for B&B experiences to celebrate our anniversaries – and got a crazy idea that maybe someday we would like to run one of our own…in the future…nearer to retirement. We would casually keep the B&B idea on the back burner – and look for properties for sale in places we visited – always with an idea of location being a driving factor. In 2020 – Richard’s sister bought a B&B in the charming town of Weston, Missouri – and after coming to Weston multiple times – we fell in love with the town, the people and the idea of relocating and running our own business here – someday in the future – when we were closer to retirement!! Well – that time came sooner than we expected when we fell in love with the Hatchery House Bed and Breakfast in 2022. We were drawn in by the historic charm of the Hatchery – and its long-standing history of excellence – we made the leap to sell our home in Texas – and move to Weston to continue the legacy of the Hatchery House. We have no regrets – the decision to move to Weston was an easy one – we had a lot of family support – and were welcomed by the community in a great way. We have loved slowing down our pace of life, putting our own personal touches on the Hatchery House, being part of a thriving small town community – and meeting wonderful guests from all over – many who have become friends.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With any move (Texas to Missouri) there are always some adjustments. Julie quit her nursing career of 28 years to run the inn and be the head chef, despite, ironically not even liking breakfast – but still creating exciting menus weekly for the guests. Richard still works full time as an engineer for Lockheed Martin – while also full time managing the day-to-day operations of the inn (maintenance, groundskeeping, IT support, barista, and dishwasher). We downsized our home into a small apartment space in the inn – and we went to having just one car. We had to learn how to run a business practically overnight – we are thankful for purchasing an existing business and inheriting the housekeeper and accountant!! Of course, with every old historic home there comes the challenge of a variety of unique things (translate to repairs and upkeep, bills, and possibly an occasional ghost). We did leave behind a huge friend group in Texas – and had to start over here – we were lucky to have family here already in the community – and friends that took us into their circles quickly. Overall – it hasn’t been a struggle -the road has been mostly smooth!!!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Julie spent 28 years in the nursing field – in a variety of positions. I think that I bring that compassion and care from years of nursing – and also being a mom and caregiver – to my hospitality at the inn. I am most proud of raising our 3 children who are now all wonderful adults. I love that my role at the inn allows me to be creative with food – and to be able to interact with our guests on a personal level – I love hearing the stories and guests sharing their lives with me – I find that we share so much in common and that helps me really feel like I still make a small difference in the world – despite being out of the nursing field.
Richard has been an engineer for aerospace companies for 32 years helping design many rotary aircraft and flight simulators. Richard is extremely smart and handy – so he is Mr. fix it for almost all things at the inn! He also enjoys the “Inn Life” with the personal interactions with guests that is very different than his engineer career.
Julie and Richard both love to travel – and part of owning the inn – is being able to close when we want to take off to see more of the world!!
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We feel truly blessed to be part of the legacy of the Hatchery House – it will continue on for years to come- even when our times here comes to an end. We hope we leave a positive mark on the house, the town and all of the people that we get the honor of hosting.
We also are so thankful that by making this move – it brought us closer to Richard’s family in Weston and the greater Kansas City area). After living away from them for most of our married life – it is a blessing to be nearby his mom, sister and her husband and some of their children and grandbaby – and we are fortunate that our youngest daughter made the move to Weston with us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hatcherybb.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hatcheryhouse/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HatcheryHouseBnB/
