Coming Home

Ellen, left, and Steve Frye prepare kuchen for an upcoming group of visitors June 23, 2018, at Eggers & Co. General Store bed and breakfast in Farrar, Missouri.

Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian

Local bed and breakfast preserves history

After Ellen Frye and her husband, Steve Frye, became owners of Eggers and Company General Store in Farrar, Missouri, in 2004 — the place Ellen’s grandparents once called home — Ellen was sifting through her grandfather’s antique roll-top desk when she came across a curious document. Handwritten in German, she could tell it was important, but wasn’t sure at first of the gravity of the record she held.

It was her great-grandfather’s last will and testament, in his own handwriting. It had been living in the desk, untouched, for decades.

“What an honor to come across it,” Ellen says.

Eggers & Co. General Store bed and breakfast sits along Perry County Road 328 on June 23, 2018, in Farrar, Missouri.

BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Discovering hidden treasures like this is a common occurrence at the now-renovated bed and breakfast near Perryville, Missouri. Ellen, who has lived in St. Louis most of her life, says these treasures often find their way “back home” to the property through community members, friends and old patrons of the store.

“It just so happens that your cell phone won’t get a signal here … so you really have to unplug,” Ellen says. “It’s stepping back in time, literally, into how things were, except hopefully it’s a little more comfortable, with air conditioning.”

The store-turned-bed-and-breakfast, now known as Eggers and Company General Store, Bed and Breakfast has a long history, with different owners and names. But one thing has remained the same: the store’s role as a gathering place for the Farrar community.

Originally opened in 1896 as the Bueckman Store, the former convenience store was erected in Perry County, an area settled primarily by those with German heritage.

Ellen says the general store was a gathering place for the community during the week, while Salem Lutheran Church was the place to be on Sunday. And while the church sustained the community spiritually, the general store took care of the physical needs.

“I emphasize the word ‘needed,’” Ellen says. “It didn’t have everything you wanted. Not 10 kinds of mustard. Mustard.”

The Girls' Room is seen June 23, 2018, at Eggers & Co. General Store bed and breakfast in Farrar, Missouri.

BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

The main room of the former store held a counter, behind which its customers could purchase goods, from groceries to clothing to school supplies and more. It also housed the U.S. Post Office that remained in operation until 2006. Off the main room is an annex where Ellen says the store sold ice cream, snacks, beer and soda.

“When Mom would come in to visit, it wasn’t just shoppers,” Ellen says. “It was people hanging out. It was like a social area.”

The store changed hands from its original owner in 1903, when it was purchased by Herman and Henry Klaus, who called it Klaus and Son. In 1920, Ellen’s grandfather, Martin “Tom” Eggers, and his brother, Walter, bought the store and ran it until 1966. Ellen’s great-grandfather, Henry Eggers, had been the postmaster at the store during its days as Klaus and Son.

In 1966, the store was sold to a group of Eggers’ employees who ran it as Farrar General Market until 2004, when Ellen and Steve decided to purchase the property and run it as a bed and breakfast.

The Fryes, originally from St. Louis, also purchased a farm a few miles down the road from the bed and breakfast, and they spend their weekends living and working in Farrar. But their lives throughout the week look much different.

Ellen Frye holds her great-grandfather's last will and testament June 23, 2018, at Eggers & Co. General Store bed and breakfast in Farrar, Missouri.

BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Ellen is a physical therapist by trade, and she teaches and does research as an adjunct faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis. Steve works as a wholesale florist for Baisch and Skinner in St. Louis.

It’s an unusual jump, physical therapy and floristry to hospitality. But for the Fryes, running the bed and breakfast is about having fun and giving guests a unique experience.

“A friend of ours said, ‘Ew, a bed and breakfast, that’s like having company all the time,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, company! I love having company!’” Ellen says, laughing at the memory.

Spending her weekends and free time at the bed and breakfast, Ellen says, is a way to reconnect with her family, long after many of them have passed away. The space Ellen uses as an office was once Martin and Ella Eggers’ bedroom, and it still houses many mementos from the couple, including a wedding picture and invitation.

In the spirit of keeping close to her roots, Ellen has kept a signature breakfast menu of traditional German foods. Foods like kuchen–or coffee cake–and gritze wurst–more commonly recognized as oatmeal sausage–are just some of the items Ellen serves her guests. She often changes the recipes depending on the dietary needs of her guests.

Cooking breakfast is one of the tasks Ellen says she and Steve most enjoy.

“We love to make the breakfast together,” Ellen says. “We do what we call our kitchen dance … we know how to move around each other. He fries the sausage and I make the frittata.”

In 2007, Ellen and Steve decided to add the property to the National Register of Historic Places, a recognition which gave them a tax credit to help fund the preservation of the property’s historic integrity. As a result, several updates have been made, all of which preserve the original exterior of the building.

Guests stay in rooms upstairs, some of which have been renovated for comfort. For instance, indoor plumbing was added upstairs for guests’ convenience.

Ellen says she and her husband also added an entrance/exit from the upstairs so guests can feel more comfortable coming and going as they please. In addition, a common-area kitchenette is provided for guests to keep any personal beverages or food.

Ellen says she and Steve plan to retire someday and live at the farm so they can operate the bed and breakfast more regularly.

“We’ve got quite a bit of the future to look forward to,” Ellen says. “This is our dream.”

A pillar of the past with enough historically significant memorabilia to transport you there, Eggers and Company General Store, Bed and Breakfast is a glimpse into time travel. But it is far from antiquated.

For the Fryes, the bed and breakfast is home.