When we purchased the Black Bear Motel it was in desperate need of remodeling. Every time the wind would blow we would have to pick up parts of our roof. We had people ask us if we were going to tear it down. We already had experience in renovating condemned property and bringing it back to life. Now we haven't had anyone ask us if we were going to tear it down. Instead it is a daily event here to have people from all over the world stop and take photos since we are on the way to Lake Roosevelt and Grand Coulee Dam.
The buildings were built in the 50’s. We knew when we bought it that it would change once we decided how we wanted it to look. We have always had a fascination with antiques and wanted to use that love. We thought long and hard on what design we thought would be best for the community we live in.
Once we decided on the 1800’s then I spent a lot of time on the internet and in our local museum. The Davenport Museum has a lot of nice things from the area that helped us make our decision. I spent hours going through their photo albums and once I decided on the ones I was going to use then I purchased the largest ones I could get. You will find the photos in most of our rooms and also in the 1800’s building.
When we remodeled we tried to find as many things from this area to incorporate into the design. We were able to do this project 95% green. If we absolutely had to use something new we made it look as old as possible.
These are the photos of the before and after.
Like they say recycle & reuse. It can turn out beautiful.