Bass and Baskets

Description

It all started in 1998 at a bed & breakfast in Dresden, Ohio. Traveling from their home in St. Louis to tour Longaberger, Debbie and Ed Franko discovered they loved staying in this type of inn. “We liked it so much that we thought this was something we could do someday when we retired,” says Debbie. Upon returning home, they came up with the perfect name for their bed-&- breakfast-to be, a name that reflected both of their passions. They even had a sign made that read: “Bass and Baskets, Established 1998.” Then they returned to their regular lives, Debbie to teaching elementary school kids and Ed to managing numerous KFC restaurants. 
 But the seed had been planted, and the dream refused to fade. Soon the couple was touring lakefront properties with a realtor, focusing on the Lake of the Ozarks where Ed had participated in many bass-fishing tournaments. One Sunday morning, Debbie and Ed drove past the home of an old fishing buddy and noticed a “For Sale, No Realtors” sign in the yard next door. Punching in the number, Ed realized he was calling someone who lived in his old hometown of Granite City, Ill. “I think it was meant to be,” he says. After a day of negotiations, “we walked away with the key,” marvels Debbie. All that remained was to quit their jobs, sell their home, remodel the 1960s cottage on the lake and start a business neither of them knew anything about. “I guess you might call us daring people,” says the gregarious Ed. “Our friends thought we were crazy," adds Debbie, "because we were leaving good jobs, a beautiful home and moving to a rundown place with no money.” Fearless and excited, the pair hired a builder to add 4,500 square feet of space to the existing 2,500-square-foot cottage. But after a year, the builder left with the work undone. So the Frankos ended up doing much of the interior work themselves. Cabinets, tile, tongue-and-groove ceilings, hand-planed hardwood floors - they tackled it all. “We didn't have experience before, but we do now!” Ed exclaims. Ed was working on the fireplace in one of the bedrooms on Sept. 11, 2001 when his son, Jonathan, called to alert them to the terrorist attacks. “We stood there and talked about how our business might go down the tubes before we even got the doors open,” says Debbie somberly. Ed actually wrote what went on that day on the inside of the fireplace. Despite delays and world events, the owners of the Bass and Baskets Bed & Breakfast proudly opened in October 2001 and have never looked back. Debbie enjoys decorating the four-guest-room inn with her vast collection of Longaberger Baskets

Fact sheet

Products & services

Similar companies nearby