Schoolhouse suites
BONNERS FERRY – When she was in first grade, Ruth Perry sat in Mrs. Hamilton’s classroom at the Northside School in Bonners Ferry and began the work of learning the three R’s.
Now, in that same room, Perry serves homemade meals to the guests staying at her Northside School Bed and Breakfast.
The 1912 schoolhouse, located on the north side of the Kootenai River, served as an elementary until it closed in 1991 and was sold to a family as a private residence. When Perry and her husband, Gene, returned to visit her old hometown about three years ago, Gene Perry saw the building on the market and told his wife they ought to buy it.
“By the time we got back (home to California), he had all the plans drawn out in his head,” Ruth Perry says.
Their offer was accepted and the couple moved to North Idaho. Their initial plan was to convert the school-turned- seven-room-house into an inn. That meant remodeling the dining area to include a new, modern kitchen. It meant adding or renovating 14 bathrooms and a backyard swimming pool. It meant decorating nine guestrooms with various themes. It also meant setting aside a three-bedroom, two-bath owners’ apartment for their living quarters.
After a year and a half of work, the B&B opened in January 2007. Now the public is welcome to view their work on Sunday when the inn opens its doors as part of the annual North Idaho Bed & Breakfast Association Spring Tour.
The nine guestrooms, all with private baths, feature themes ranging from Romantic to Tuscan to Idaho Outdoors. The Meeker-Lanagon room honors the history of Bonners Ferry and one of its well-known families. The Classroom, with twin beds, sports a schoolhouse theme, and is home to one of the school’s original blackboards. The Retro Room is the B&Bs only room that is fully accessible under Americans With Disabilities Act regulations.
Or, visitors could opt to spend some time in the Principal’s Office. Voluntarily. The former office space has been decorated elegantly in a calming green. It offers excellent views of the Kootenai River and of the landing below.
The school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Many original fixtures still grace the building, including interior doors and teachers’ cupboards. The school’s original bell sits in the entryway, as does a collection of class photos. Guests are challenged to find Ruth Perry from among her first-grade brethren. “No one has picked me out yet,” she says.
Neither Perry nor her architect husband set out to be innkeepers. But the idea of entertaining guests from the region and around the world is appealing. The Northside has hosted guests from as far away as Northern Europe and Australia.
“I really love talking to people,” Ruth Perry said.