MOUNT CARROLL — In the heart of Mount Carroll’s storybook downtown, where the past and present intersect along brick streets lined with small-town charm, a stately building stands on the same corner where it’s been for more than 100 years, welcoming tourists and travelers alike — people who’ve come seeking more than just a room, but a moment in time.

Beneath a decorative cornice where the building’s birthday towers overhead and ornate stars remain anchored to the past, guests walk through double doors and into history. With ornate furniture, warm lighting and echoes of 19th-century elegance, the Bridgewater Inn hearkens back to a long-ago chapter of hospitality.

Inside, echoes of history can still be heard in walls that have many stories to tell. This 139-year-old hotel has hosted dignitaries and doctors, survived fire, and battled decline and decades of mixed use before Maria and Brian Krull gave it a new lease on life as a place to stay for a day or an extended time away. The Krulls have poured their lives into restoring the once-shuttered Hotel Glen View into a haven of charm and comfort.

“You can come here just to relax and get away from everything, just to forget everything,” Maria said. “That’s what I usually tell everyone: That’s all you need to do. Everyone’s always so busy, and some people are here to see their family. When they leave, they’ll be, ‘This is just wonderful.’”

The hotel has 10 rooms – six suites and four with kitchenettes, and all equipped with TV, wifi, and a coffee maker. The Krulls also plan to add more rooms in the future utilizing existing space. Rooms are available at flat rate prices with no weekend or holiday premiums, and there are no minimum stay requirements.

Maria wears more than one hat at The Bridgewater. She’s also its clerk, personally booking guests’ reservations. She and Brian live in a suite on the third floor. When she books guests, she likes to get to know a little about their stay and even offer dinner suggestions to those who are new to the area. “You never know what they’re in the mood for,” she said. And when guests make reservations, they do it by picking up the phone or e-mailing; no online booking services like Expedia getting in the middle of things.

Maria also is the chairperson of Carroll County’s Hotel-Motel Committee, which helps hospitality business owners find ways to attract people to town. At the Bridgewater, the Krulls have had guests who have family members performing at Timber Lake Playhouse south of town, and touring crews for acts at the Rhythm Section Amphitheater north of town. Day trip guests are another group, those either just visiting the area or passing through. Family members who are visiting relatives in town and need a place to stay represent another active group, and the kitchenettes also have been used for extended stays by people having their homes renovated.

When their stay is over, Maria usually jokes with them about them going “back to reality.”

“I’ve heard people who have been like. ‘We could stay at a chain, but we want to experience your downtown,’” Maria said. “They enjoy the streets and looking around at all of the houses, and they think our stores are really cute. They’ll ask what there is to do here, and I’ll tell them that it’s more of the outdoors. We have shops, but it’s definitely an outdoorsy area. I’ll bring up the playhouse and the state parks and their trails.”

Tourism and the arts aren’t the only draws to Mount Carroll. As Carroll County’s seat of government, the city has a history of attracting people of prominence and importance to town, including politicians, professors, attorneys and doctors — most of who came for a temporary stay. The Mount Carroll Hotel Company was formed by Benjamin Patch in the early 1800s to accommodate them, and the company built the Hotel Glen View in 1886, with David Conklin as its first general manager and August Olson as the culinary manager of its dining room. Conklin’s tenure as manager was brief — he died from a stroke in 1889 — and Olson would become general manager a few years later.

The hotel survived a fire in 1896, largely due to the quick response of the fire department, who responded in just three minutes. The hotel’s early history, including details of the fire, has been commemorated on a plaque on the street corner as a stop on the Mt. Carroll Historic Preservation Advisory Committee’s walking tour.

After going through several owners, the Hotel Glen View closed in 1976 and was converted into other uses for the next four decades: apartments, a flower shop, law offices, the county’s Republican headquarters, and a mini-mall of smaller shops. Eventually, the building caught the attention of the Krulls, who started investing in property in town while living in the suburbs.

During a visit to town one day, Brian saw the former hotel and thought it would be a good candidate for a remodel and restoration, returning it to its former glory. He kept in touch with then-owners Larry and Laura DeSpain, who decided to sell to the Krulls in 2017, around the time Brian started an early retirement from his job.

“By chance, he would walk downtown, see the building, met Larry … and had a tour,” Maria said. “He fell in love with the building, and he said to Larry, ‘If you ever want to sell, let me know.’ About six months later, Larry spotted Brian at our property and was like, ‘We’re ready to sell.’ My husband came home and said, ‘I think we bought a hotel.’”

The Krulls had remodeled homes before, but the three-story historical hotel was their biggest project yet, taking 8 years and counting. Rooms were remodeled, kitchenettes added and the front lobby returned to its former elegance. They are about three-quarters through with their remodeling plans, and when all is said and done they figure to have 18 rooms available. There are no plans to bring back a dining room, but the lobby does have a coffee bar.

Restoring the hotel has been their “next phase” in life, Maria said and they try to get a major project done each year during the slow months. Another part of bringing the past back to the present is finding decor and period pieces of furniture to add. Most of the hotel’s original items were sold at auction upon its closure, but Maria’s had the owners of pieces of the hotel’s history contact her about helping bring pieces back home.

“It’s been fun,” Maria said. “There have been some struggles trying to figure out how to make things work, but meeting new people and learning a lot of history is what really caught our attention. We’ve done so much remodeling, and sometimes the plans change in the middle. You got to be very flexible.”

The Krulls have furnished the lobby with pieces reminiscent of the hotel’s first few decades, such as ornate chairs, and added vintage-style decor including tables and drapes. They procured many of their items just down the brick street, from The Mad Hatter’s Ideas and Designs, owned by Len and Linda Anderson. One of the unique items that’s found a home at the hotel is a chess set with empty Avon perfume bottles as its pieces. Len also helped them acquire an 1899 Henry F. Miller Co. piano that was manufactured in Boston and last located in Iowa before coming to Mount Carroll. Some guests still like to tickle the ivories during their stays.

“One guest came here with his friend for the weekend and asked if he could play on the piano because he taught music,” Maria said. “It was the same time my son was at Loyola and taking piano classes. [We talked] and he started laughing, and then he goes, ‘I think I know your son.’ I told my son, ‘I think your professor was just here.’ Listening to some of these guests play, it’s fun.”

A cash register from the hotel’s past has also found a place in the lobby. It doesn’t work anymore, but it’s still a nice reminder of the hotel’s history. Front-and-center behind the front desk is a large painting from the 1980s of sights throughout Carroll County, painted by former resident and Shimer College professor Armella Kneale, who painted into her 100s before she died in 2010.

The painting came to the hotel courtesy of Kneale’s grandson, Evan, who was one of the hotel’s first guests after the Krulls opened for business. He knew the painting was somewhere in town and was able to arrange for it to be hung at the Bridgewater. It had been at a few places prior, most recently at the West Carroll School District office.

“It was meant to be here,” Maria said. “People come in, especially people who have lived here and are staying here, and they’re like, ‘I can’t believe you guys have this.’ They’re excited to see all of the different places.”

After years of painstaking effort, the Krulls have enjoyed welcoming guests back to a place that once defined Mount Carroll’s sense of elegance and civic pride. The building has witnessed the town’s evolution firsthand and the storied hotel is returning to its roots – one restored room, antique chair and shared memory at a time.

The Krulls invite people to visit Mount Carroll and see a city that embraces its past while welcoming visitors with open arms.

“With the time that we’ve taken to restore this, come and see what we’ve done,” Maria said. “You can see history — and even in the whole town of Mount Carroll with the time and work that they’ve put into their buildings and businesses. It’s unbelievable.”

Bridgewater Inn is located at 116 E. Market St. in Mount Carroll. Find it on Facebook, go to ourbridgewaterinn.com, email ourbridgewaterinn@gmail.com, 815-244-0201 for reservations or more information.