By Mark Ambrogi
John Newton likes to say he cut his teeth on hospitality with his first business, the Indy Hostel in Broad Ripple.
The location, which Newton bought in 2003 and opened in 2004, has the atmosphere of a hostel with the style of a bed and breakfast inn.
“It took about six years because I’m kind of slow,” Newton said. “I figured it took more people than me to make it happen.”
With the Indy Hostel going strong, Newton and his wife Karen began to look for another property to start a bed and breakfast and a yoga studio as Karen is a long-time yoga instructor.
A tip from a realtor’s wife led them to the site where the Frederick Talbott Inn had sat across the street from Conner Prairie in Fishers. The Inn had been closed for a couple of years.
“We run into people all the time that say ‘I almost bought that place,’” Newton said.
The Newtons bought the property, 13985 Allisonville Rd., in October of 2012 and, after fixing it up, reopened it as the Prairie Guest House in February of 2013.
“We live on-site, which is great so we don’t have a big commute of any kind,” Newton said with a laugh.
The Newtons live in the basement of the main house. Newton still goes to the hostel in Broad Ripple once or twice a week.
“We have a competent staff that handles most everything,” he said.
During the busy Conner Prairie Interactive History Park season, along with the Symphony on the Prairie schedule, the nine rooms of the Prairie Guest House are frequently filled.
“We have wagons and they can take their blankets and coolers and haul it across the street,” Karen said. “Then they can come back have a couple more drinks and spend the night.”
There is a suite in the main house and a dining area.
“In the winter, we aim toward business travelers and retreats,” Newton said. “With business travelers, we’re up against places like the Marriott where they get reward points. But sometimes they get burned out on that. Once they find out how relaxing and comfortable this is, and that it’s basically the same price and there’s great food, we tend to pull them in.”
Newton does the cooking for the house’s breakfasts.
“I’ve always enjoyed cooking and there are enough tools out there to learn stuff,” Newton said. “After you’ve messed up eggs enough, you figure out eventually how to do them. It gets me out of bed early, which is good. I don’t stay out late and get in trouble.”
Karen helps with the decorating, supervises the housekeeping and also teaches yoga at a studio on the property.
“We split up our responsibilities,” said Newton, a Lawrence Central High School graduate who married Karen in 2009. “We work to our strengths and then some of it is who draws the short straw.”
For more, visit PrairieGuestHouse.com.
New facility
The Prairie Guest House is set for a new addition as the Newtons will remodel the property’s barn into an events facility. The Fishers City Council recently approved the use of the barn for events.
“We plan that it will be used for reunions, fundraisers, parties and weddings,” Newton said.
The facility’s capacity is 120. Newton said the remodeling efforts should be finished by late summer and events can last until 10:30 p.m., but most will wrap up by 10 p.m.
Newton said he plans to have a restaurant on the property, too, but isn’t sure where.
“It’s going to be a farm-to-table style restaurant,” Newton said. “We’ll have a lot of locally sourced foods. We’re going to transform the whole property. Our neighbors have been great and have supported our proposals. We’re excited about it. It allows us to use the full potential of the property.”
Historical connection
Newton said the guest house was built in the 1852 on property owned by Fabius Maximus Finch, a well-known judge.
Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd U.S. president, was one of the honorary pallbearers at Finch’s funeral in 1900. The Finch family was one of the first to settle the area.
Finch’s brother-in-law was William Conner, a fur trader and Indiana statesman who founded Hamilton County and county seat Noblesville. Conner’s house, nearly 200 years old, is on Conner Prairie property.
Finch’s former property was a working farm for many years.
The main house was built in 1907 and was originally down by the river on Conner Prairie. Agriculturally the property’s last use was as a horse farm.
