In 1995, fourth
generation Tampa natives Anne and Ted Stephens bought an 82-year-old,
7,000-square-foot former railroad hotel in the tiny village of San Antonio,
FL., with plans to turn it into their family home.
When Ted Stephens
isn't on the job with the Tampa Fire and Rescue, he restores old homes.
His father Jim, also loves home restorations.
"We didn't
buy this to make a bed and breakfast," said Mrs. Stephens, who
left her job as an obstetrics nurse 15 years ago to raise her two sons,
Tacy and Hunter. "But friends in Bushnell convinced us to turn
it into a B&B," Mrs. Stephens said. For nearly five years,
all the Stephenses pitched in to redo the sadly neglected but solidly
built structure.
They found hidden
fireplaces, hard-as-stone plaster, windows with original wavy panes
of glass, heart-of-pine floors, and three large porches that simply
invite people to sit down and rock awhile.
Mrs. Stephens believes
in pampering her guests. She irons all the sheets and linens, provides
heavy white terry cloth robes and slippers in each room and puts candles
and bubble bath in each bathroom. For those celebrating special occasions,
she serves coffee in bed on a tray bedecked with flowers from her own
garden.
