BED AND BREAKFAST `WELCOME MAT' FOR JACKSON

Trisha Wischmann sits in the parlor of the historic house that now serves as Trisha's Bed & Breakfast. (Photos by Fred Lynch)

The Mueller House sits at 203 S. Bellevue in Jackson. It was built over 90 years ago by H.H. Mueller.

This is one of the bedrooms that can be rented from the bed and breakfast. This room is called "Millicent's Petticoats" after the daughter of the family that built the house.

This is the gas and wood that was built in 1923.

Girl Scout Troop 158 paid a visit to Trisha's Bed & Breakfast last week where they learned about the history of the house and the Victorian Age. (Photo by Scott Moyers)

Trisha Wischmann considers herself a "welcome mat" for Jackson. She says one of the ways she is a welcome mat is through Trisha's Bed & Breakfast, which is located at 203 S. Bellevue in Jackson.

"A lot of my business comes from the people who come for the train," Wischmann says, referring to the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway. "They ride the train and then stay here."

The historic old house (called The Mueller House, after the family that first lived there) that houses her bed and breakfast is over 90 years old, but it has only been a bed and breakfast for the past nine years.

The idea of opening a bed and breakfast was first planted in Wischmann's head when her real estate agent told her it would be a good way to market a house she and her family used to live in near Millersville.

"I did market it that way, but it didn't work," she said. "But the idea stuck in the back of my mind."

Then when they were looking to buy a home closer to where her husband, Gus, worked, they came across this one.

"I love older homes," Wischmann said. "And when we saw this one I knew it would make an excellent bed and breakfast -- it had more bedrooms than I could ever use."

And she said she enjoys being a hostess. "Part of Gus' job in the Army when we were in Germany was to entertain new recruits so I've been doing this sort of thing for a long time, like we all do."

Wischmann and her family have done a lot to the house that they bought in 1988, starting with the decorating. The next year they installed central air and heat.

But she certainly doesn't want to take away that "Victorian feel" that the house has to it -- that's what keeps the customers coming.

"Most bed and breakfasts are historical," Wischmann said. "One statistic I read said that over 40 percent of people who stay in bed and breakfasts do so because of the history of it."

She said she thinks that many bed and breakfasts are "tourist attractions" in and of themselves.

When you walk into her house, it looks similar to the way it looked in the early 1900s, with its original floors, high ceilings and ornate trim work and door frames.

It's even decorated similar to the way it might have been back then.

"I try to go back to the Victorian Age, in keeping in what it was like when the house was first built," she said. "I enjoy that era, as far as the clothing goes and as far as the look."

She likes it so much she teaches it. Last week she had Girl Scout Troop 158 there for a tour. She told the young girls the history of the house, showed them around and even let them dress up in Victorian clothes.

The Girl Scouts got a lesson in Victorian manners, too, having high tea and scones.

The Mueller House was built shortly after the turn of the century by H.H. Mueller Jr. Mueller was the bookkeeper for the family meat processing and curing company. He and his wife, Rilla, settled into the around 1910.

Their only daughter, Millicent, was born in the house 1912. Rilla did a renovation in 1928 to accommodate more dining area since this house had become the center for family gatherings.

Wischmann said it was a "grand place" at one time, with tennis courts, gazebos and a huge yard.

After the death of H.H. Mueller Jr. in 1935, Rilla added an upper wing which she converted to an apartment. She rented to young couples and continued living there until her death in 1968. Three other families owned the Mueller House between 1969 and 1987.

Trisha Wischmann said she developed a friendship with Millicent after she bought the house where Millicent grew up.

"She was really a wonderful person," Wischmann said. "She lived in this house until she got married when she was 20."

Wischmann said that Millicent often visited the house and she was pleased at what had been done with it.

"She loved it. Every time she came she broke down and cried. She said I made it look how her mother did." Millicent passed away recently, so Wischmann is glad that she had a chance to know her.

What Wischmann enjoys most about running a bed and breakfast is all the hosting she gets to do.

"I love talking to the guests," she said. "I feel like I'm a tour director."