NASHVILLE —
A downtown property, once a jewelry store, but empty for more than 20 years, was won in a $100 raffle by a Berrien County native and transformed into a hotel with luxury amenities.
Our Place Hotel, located at 107 Marion St., has special sentiment for raffle winner Terry Danforth and wife Lisa: They purchased their wedding bands at the jewelry store many years ago.
The Danforths opened their new hotel, which includes granite countertops, brick pavers, wood floors and ceilings, in May. The walls were described as brick and cypress wood with warm paint colors. Other special touches are salvaged old cedar beams adding character to the upstairs bedrooms and common areas, bathrooms with large showers, and huge pecky cypress entrance doors handmade for the property. Rooms and common areas all have flat-screen televisions.
“Mr. Danforth has had a passion for this project since the beginning,” said Dawn Morrison, Better Hometown director. “He has put his heart and soul into this project, and it has certainly paid off.”
Morrison said it was the Downtown Development Authority of Nashville which hosted the raffle for the two-story, 1935 art deco building. The raffle was a reverse drawing, meaning the last ticket drawn would win the building.
Only 300 tickets were sold, including one as far as California. Danforth came in the day of the event to purchase a ticket. When Morrison explained the last ticket drawn would win the building, Danforth replied, “Well, I will probably win it because my name is always the last to be drawn.”
His prediction proved to be true.
Danforth turned down all offers on the building from prospective business owners. According to Morrison, the farmer said he had never done a project such as this, but added he has always wanted to do so.
Morrison said the Better Hometown Organization helped the Danforths survey the community’s industries and businesses on their needs for a new hotel. It was indicated by these surveys that the community would support this new endeavor, she so.
Anyone wishing more information on Our Place Hotel, please call Terry or Lisa Danforth at (229) 686-4316.
Features
Our Place Hotel
Raffle winner transforms 1935 art deco building into upscale hotel
- Features
-
-
'Man of Steel' still needs work
Movie Reviews: 'Man of Steel,' 'This Is The End,' 'Before Midnight'
-
Children help garden, community grow
This is the story of a garden, but it is also the story of how two needs were met in a small backyard in Valdosta. How a physically challenged couple has come to love the weekly visits of nearly two dozen children and how those youngsters have learned a sense of community by, what Jane Teasley calls, “planting it forward.” It is a story of not only how a garden grows but how friendships and a sense of community can grow.
-
Movie worthy of ‘Internship’
Movie Reviews: The Internship, The Purge
-
A Superman for all seasons
Superman seems a character who is needed every generation or so.
He was created in the late 1930s during a period when dictatorships were spreading across Europe. Superman came into being during the end of the Great Depression, at a time when the world was about to be steeped in a terrible global conflict. -
New mission: LAMP focuses on homeless
Call it a rebranding or a new mission, Lowndes Associated Ministries to People has changed its focus.
-
Books: Inferno by Dan Brown
Dan Brown’s “Inferno” is one of those books that you either have already bought, already read, plan to buy or plan to read, or simply have no interest in it at all, and no review will likely keep anyone from reading it or encourage anyone not already interested to open it.
-
An after-thought for ‘After Earth’
Movie Reviews: "After Earth," "Now You See Me"
-
All in the Family
Paint may well be in their blood. That and talent. Before going any further, it may help to name the players and getting their relationships straight. Think of Esther Arthur as the grandmother then there’s her daughter, D. Arthur McBride. Then, there are McBride’s two sons, Thomas M. Thomson and Ron Thomson, who are, of course, Arthur’s grandsons. Each is an artist in her and his own right. Each impressive in their specific styles and skill sets.
-
Youngsters bring ‘Sound of Music’ von Trapp children to life
From the moment they march onto the stage and stand at attention, the von Trapp children performers have the audience’s support.
-
Creedence Clearwater Revisted coming to Wild Adventures
The question must be asked, but you know it must be the last question asked. Interviewing Stu Cook, bass player for Creedence Clearwater Revisited playing this weekend at Wild Adventures, and original member of Creedence Clearwater Revival, a reporter must ask about the split among band members.
- More Features Headlines
-
'Man of Steel' still needs work



