Our property’s history in a nutshell

IT’S LATE SEPTEMBER, and the work on the renovations of the Dove Cottage Ministries facility is progressing… Slowly. But progressing, nonetheless. The property itself is in historic downtown Aurora, Indiana, on a bend in the Ohio River. The history of the property is very interesting in its own right. Built in 1840 as a two-room, two-story home, its builder lived here while he worked on other homes in the city of Aurora. Eventually, the builders (a team of two brothers) built Hillforest Mansion, which is a museum and landmark, just a block uphill from our place. Over the years, what is now Dove Cottage grew to be a 9-room home.

AT ONE POINT in its history (1991), the home was outfitted with 5 bathrooms to match the 5 bedrooms and opened as a Bed-and-Breakfast. It remained a B&B until around 2003. After closing the B&B, the new owners rented out rooms on a monthly rental basis. The house, when we found it, had been vacant for a couple of years. When our renovations are complete, we will have the two front rooms on the first floor outfitted pretty closely to what they would have been in the 1870’s to 1890’s. There will be 3 guest bedrooms, each with an attached bath, each completely private for those who choose quiet and privacy. For those who need or want friendship and the comfort of others close by with an ear to hear or a shoulder to lean on, those will be available also.

THE KITCHEN will be my wife’s dream – a new kitchen with all new appliances and plenty of room to move around in. That kitchen will be available for our guests. Our hope is that you will join us at meals. There will be room to eat in the kitchen, plus a formal dining room for larger groups. Should you choose to make your own meals, our guests will have access to the kitchen 24/7.

THESE RENOVATIONS have been an adventure that I did not expect. Let’s just leave it at that for now. Perhaps one day, I’ll tell a bigger part of the story. Suffice it to say right now, we are looking forward to their completion so we can move in and settle down. It looks like the timeframe is sometime between Thanksgiving and New Years.