A.G. Thomson House

It€™s been quite awhile since our last post, so it€™s about time to catch up! 

This time of the year is supposed to be a Duluth Innkeeper€™s €œquiet€ season; a season where you take some time to relax and plan for the upcoming summer.  Well, it has been anything but quiet around here.  We have been planning for the upcoming season in many ways, while also enjoying the guests that have decided this is not their quiet season!  We feel very fortunate and thank all of our guests who have chosen to stay with us and share our home.  We have and will continue our efforts to improve not only the Inn and each of our rooms, but also the type of amenities and comforts that we can offer our guests. 

Our most recent completion and update took place in the Ryerson Suite.  Guests staying in this wonderful space will find a newly updated and renovated bathroom to match the already updated bedroom and sunroom.    We think this may be our new favorite room!!  The changes that took place include a new, state of the art, Queen Size Aero Massage Whirlpool Tub.  This tub has earned rave reviews from its most recent guests.  By massage, we mean 28 jets of glorious luxury!   The jets on this tub are protected by a check valve that prevents bath water from entering the air induction system, thus offering the ultimate in hygienic protection!  Also, in our continual efforts to live and work green, we have installed a duo-flush commode in the Ryerson Suite providing our guests the option to participate in water conservation.  The soft, warm tones of this room compliment the incredible amenities this room now offers.  We will have new room photos up and posted within the next few weeks to provide the true sense of beauty and luxury this room now offers.
What we are most pleased with in this new bathroom is that it is not only €œstate of the art€ in its amenities, but we have maintained the integrity of this beautiful and historic home by choosing fixtures, tile, and decorating details that work and blend perfectly for its 100^th birthday!
 The Ryerson Suite is not the only room to have undergone a transformation during the €œquiet€ season.  The Brule River Retreat also received a new look!  Guests will no longer find a €œcabin€ at this Bed and Breakfast.  You will instead be treated to an updated and refined look with a beautiful sleigh bed, updated lighting fixtures, mosaic sitting table, and new arrangement in the furniture offering more comfort and space. 

For those guests staying in one of the Upper Carriage House rooms (Brule or North Shore Retreat), you will find a strategically placed mini-refrigerator when you walk through the door.  We have added this amenity particularly to provide our guests some extended options of what guests in the main house receive.  The refrigerator is stocked with sodas and water, and each morning we bring a thermos of hot coffee and hot water, allowing guests to avoid the cold temps first thing in the morning.  It is a wonderful convenience that has been a long time coming!
  Check out our Guest Room page, and our Policies and Information page, for more details on what the A.G. Thomson House has to offer.  We are continually striving to offer our guests the highest level of comfort, convenience, and hospitality.  We keep our ears, eyes, and minds wide open for comments and suggestions; listening and learning from our guests which is the reason why we are here.  Thank you for making the A.G. Thomson House Trip Adivor’s #1 Bed and Breakfast in Duluth AND Minnesota €“ this is truly an honor that speaks to our guests and our commitment to you!                                   

Last week, we had the great pleasure of having a flight crew from California stay with us for a few days.  While they enjoyed a relatively warm day on Saturday, they did experience some of our legendary cold temps when they arrived.  Nonetheless, they embraced Duluth and the beauty it has to offer during the winter season.  From nordic skiing in Lester Park to down hill skiing at Spirit Mountain, they were able to get a sense of why we live here.  

So, to expand on the title above, below is a picture of why Californians are pretty tough too!  We had decided to leave our hammock up this winter with the simple reasoning that we can look out the window and dream of warmer days.  Well, who needs warmer days.  A lesson for all of us to embrace the beauty and opportunities that Duluth has to offer each day; no matter what the season. 

A big thank you to Ben, Paul, and Lori! It was such a pleasure!

When we took over the AG Thomson House nearly 1 1/2 years ago, we knew we had acquired a unique home with a perfect location.  Nestled in the heart of the city on 2 acres of beautiful grounds, and within minutes from all things fun in Duluth and along the North Shore; we know how fortunate we are to be able to offer you a B&B stay that you may not have experienced before.  We take great pride in the level of service we offer; not for service sake, but because we approach each guest and their stay as unique and deserving of the level of care that we would hope to receive. 

We have also strived to not only improve the level of care our guests receive, but have focused that desire into improving the Inn as well.  We have blogged about a lot of changes that we’ve been making recently, adding to what we were able to accomplish last year as well.  We continue to be proactive in our attempts to maintain our level of service and quality.  One of the changes recently made has been to the dining room seating.  We have now added additional seating in our dining room, allowing for great conversational seating, or for a couple looking for that intimate, romantic “alone” spot while enjoying breakfast and admiring the beauty of our Great Lake.   

We will always look to you, our guests, for that next great idea that will continue to move the AG Thomson House forward!  We thank you; as always!

Work continues around the AG Thomson House.  We have recently refined the look in a couple of our rooms.  The Mayor’s Chamber has acquired new, rich furniture to show off it’s classic, rich tones.  A large Armoire now rests perfectly against the beautiful, classy wallpaper, and the tall headboard mimics the detail of the original fireplace mantel.  The addition of a gloriously comfortable leather chair completes the space. This room has always envoked a sense of “richness”, but we think it’s even better now!  We hope to have new photos up soon, but in the meantime have posted some of our amateur shots in our photo gallery.

The other room getting a new, updated look is the Brule River Retreat.  The Brule had very large, bulky log furniture taking up a great deal of space.  We have refined the look in that room with the rich furniture that once warmed the Mayor’s Chamber.  With a new furniture layout, and change in some of the decor, the Brule is now more spacious and a lot less “loggy”!  We have also posted some of our amateur shots in our photo gallery until we get the wonderful Paramount Pixels back here to make us look fantastic.  With it’s new look, we think it deserves a new name too, but have yet to come up with just the right one.  Any ideas??

“If I were a house, I would be a big, yellow house, with a yellow so inviting that if you were to walk by, just being you, it would call to you, ‘Come In, You and Your Heart sit down.’ And if you did, come into that big, yellow, inviting house, You’d know you were home.”  Jodi Hills

We are pleased to announce that the redecorating of the Salyards Suite is complete.  The room now has an updated and warm, french country look and feel.  Seating areas are ideal for watching your favorite movie, the fire, or just looking out at the serenity and beauty of Lake Superior.  We have updated the wallpaper, repainted the walls and ceiling, and gave this ideally located room the care and boost it greatly needed.  We finished up last week and took just a few amateur photos until we can get some more professional shots from our friends at Paramount Pixels very soon. 

So, now that we’ve completed one room, it’s time to move on to the next, and the next, and the next…  We have a few more projects in process and/or waiting to begin and will keep you updated on those.   The Brule River Retreat will be getting a new look, and probably a new name.  After much contemplation, we have decided to remove the log furniture and give that wonderful space a more refined look.  I am certain the plan will evolve once we get the new bed in place and I get a good feel for the space without the rustic furniture.  The Mayor’s Chamber will also be getting a slightly new look with new furniture.   It is such a warm, rich room and we’ve found just the right furniture to accent its qualities.   We can’t wait to get those photos up too!

And finally, we have decided to revamp how we seat our guests in the dining room.  We have always felt that with just the two dining tables that it was a bit crowded when all of our rooms are full, and our guests were seated for breakfast.  So, we have decided to break up our seating with smaller, more cozy tables allowing our guests a little more room while dining.  We think it’s just a small detail that will make breakfast in the beautiful and bright space a little more enjoyable!  We will get photos of that new look as soon as possible!

Be sure to check out our January Special.   We will be extending this special into February (excluding the Valentine’s/President’s Day weekend) and look forward to sharing all of our new changes with you!  

We are pleased to announce another engagement at the AG Thomson House this past weekend.  Congratulations to Tyler and Lindsey!  This one didn’t occur at the sledding hill, but was nonetheless a special event.  Tyler and Lindsey had planned to stay with us a few weeks ago, but the weather didn’t cooperate, thus forcing an apparent postponement to the “question popping.”  Happily we were able to accomodate this weekend and be a part of another new beginning for an absolutely wonderful couple. 

We were also joined this weekend by a budding photographer!  Apparently this is a hobby for Tim, but as the shot of Split Rock beneath a full moon shows (see below), Tim is very talented.  We were lucky enough to meet Tim last summer when he and some of his staff from General Mills had an off site meeting.  This weekend was a birthday celebration for his wife, and we are very grateful for his return!  We hope to see the General Mills group again this year for another off site brain storming session!  Thanks, Tim for sharing your amazing photograph!

As we enter into the New Year, we are beginning with the redecoration of our Salyards Suite.  It’s a lovely and very popular room with one of our best lake views, and our plans for its transformation will make it even better!  Watch for the new photos as soon as the room is complete.    They will be our amateur shots until we can get the talented Paramount Pixels back to the Inn!

Be sure to check our January Special!  Guests in the Lake Superior Suite took advantage of the special and enjoyed a full moon dinner at Nokomis this past weekend.  You can choose from any of the three restaurants; Nokomis, New Scenic Cafe, or Bellisio’s Italian Restaurant.  Or, if you are a Duluth regular and have a different place in mind, we will happily extend the gift certificate to the restaurant of your choice.  Take a short trip up to Duluth and see the beauty that a Duluth winter has to offer.  You know you are going to be cold anywhere in Minnesota during this time of the year, so why not enjoy and embrace it in Beautiful Duluth and majestic Lake Superior!!

It’s hard to believe another year has passed.  Each year seems to go by even faster than the previous year.  2009 should prove to be another year for change and growth and here’s hoping everyone has nothing but the safest and happiest!

We started our year here at the AG Thomson House with another joyous event. We had our third engagement in a matter of two weeks!  Jennifer and Ryan joined us New Year’s Eve, and now are on their way to a new and exciting year!  They were kind enough to send us a couple of pictures from that night at the sledding hill next door where Ryan popped the question in front of a bunch of wide eyed teenage girls that were sledding too. The girls were clearly more than happy to take some pictures of the big event.  Can you imagine what they will be expecting from their future “fiancees?”  You’ve set the bar very high Ryan.  Congratulations again, and we wish you all the happiness in the world.  Keep us posted on the date!

And a huge thank you to all of our guests who joined us these past few days to help bring in the New Year, and without question, all who have joined us this past 1 1/2 years since taking over this beautiful Inn.  We are very grateful and appreciative and look forward to meeting new friends in 09, and welcoming back old friends too.