The Old Oak Inn: a legacy going strong
Some places are destined to carry on, despite just about anything that is thrown in the way. Weather, floods, economics, even a pandemic sometimes can be too much.
One legacy continues on no matter what. A legacy defined by hospitality, great food, and a place for locals and visitors to enjoy themselves.
The Old Oak Inn located in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin is one of many legacies throughout the Driftless Region in Wisconsin.
Originally known as the O.K. Himley mansion built in 1900, and previously owned and operated by Hollis Carol Roth (current owners of the Roth House bed and breakfast in Soldiers Grove), continues to be a must see and destination while in town.
New owners Homer and Deb Arndt are the new carriers of this legacy, having uprooted from Hillsboro, Wisconsin.
Officially called the Old Oak Inn, the Acorn Lounge, and the Reception Hall, all area staples, the first time Deb visited the house was in 2015 during a Lions District Meeting. “I fell in love with the place. The owner took some time out, showed me around I fell in love with the house,” Deb exclaimed. “It was just absolutely beautiful. It was built in 1900 and it had all original woodwork that was very stately.”
Fast forward to last fall when Deb and her girlfriend stayed at the owners’ (the Roth’s) other bed and breakfast, the Roth House. “My friend had never seen the Old Oak Inn, so she asked if we could go up there. It had been listed for sale. Carol took us up there. As I mentioned, it was for sale and I just said 'what I wouldn't give to own a house like this!' I had known Carol for a couple years at that point. And she said, 'Well, if you and your husband think that this is something you really want to do, then we'll give you a heck of a deal. You'd make an excellent innkeeper’.”
So, Deb went home and told her husband about it saying, "You know we have always dreamt of doing this, and if we don't at least try, that we would regret it the rest of our lives." It was on March 13 of this year, that the Arndt’s closed on the house and four days later the state got shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “That was interesting. It was very scary, but we persevered,” said Deb.
Although considered a turn key operation, Homer shared the couple still had to make quite a few repairs to the property due to its age. “We've had to do a lot of repairs because she's very, very old. She's a very old stately home and she needed some work. The banquet hall and roof needed repairs, so we had to take care of that, and we had some other repairs that have to be done. The bar needed to be updated as well.” In addition, the Arndt’s plan on making good use of the banquet hall on the property after some updates. “I just have some repairs to do that probably will take us the rest of the summer to take care of, we're hoping to complete by this fall. It'll be available for weddings, receptions, anniversaries, flea markets, or whatever”, Homer said with a smile.
The Acorn Lounge has been, and will continue to be a favorite eatery for locals and tourists alike, will also see many musical artists as it has before.
“So, there's a gentleman by the name of Bill Mort. And he approached me online and wondered if we would possibly be able to continue the first Friday tradition that the Roth’s had. They would have entertainers come in on the first Friday of every month to do jam sessions and play music and entertain people. I was very happy about that, especially when he told me that there was no charge, it was just give them a beer, some food, and they would just pass the hat. So that was wonderful. The next thing I knew we had entertainers for every Friday and Saturday night through the end of September,” Deb said enthusiastically.
The Arndt’s feel blessed for the veranda at the Inn, that has made an outside venue for entertainment possible, a direct result of COVID and the need for safe social distancing. Deb shared, “So, people are very conscientious about it (COVID) in this area. And so, when I talked to Bill, I just mentioned that it would be important for that to happen. And so, we talked about having it on the deck because there's a large deck in the back. We talked about maybe just some different options and we decided that we can have the entertainers on the porch, and then people can socially distance in the yard. And so, from that came ‘Music on the Veranda’, and I think that just sounds lovely.”
She continued, “People come and they bring kids and they bring their dogs on leash. Whole families are coming, and kids are playing frisbee in the yard. It's just a really nice family-oriented event and has been that way since the first Friday that we held it.”
Having reservations on who would come when the pandemic toned down, their first borders Jenna and Tyler arrived from Illinois, a kind of dry run so to speak. “Yeah, that was pretty neat”, said Deb. “They approached us online. We were officially certified by the state, and we weren't going to open until the first weekend in June. But the house was immaculate, and we were authorized by the state, so, we decided sure, why not? They could come and stay with us. It was fun, because Jenna had some special needs. So, for me, it was kind of challenging to help figure out what I was going to serve her because she couldn't eat dairy and she couldn't eat meat, so I had to work to make sure that she had something delicious and healthy for her.”
“It was neat too, because we were at breakfast the next morning and Tyler, the gentleman, was saying how much his family would love coming up to Wisconsin because they're from Missouri. And they would like to bring them in the wintertime because they love snow and never get it down where they're at in Missouri. So, he was already talking about coming back with his family which was really sweet.”
On the Old Oak Inn dining experience Deb had this to offer. “The Roths had a full-service dining option, but because I've never been a short order cook, I wanted to ease my way into it. With COVID, we decided that we would just start off with takeout like so many restaurants in the area. So, we did take out only and we're still doing takeout.” For now, the Arendt’s offer the staple Friday night fish fry, and a special on Saturday.
While Homer is tending bar, Deb is working in the kitchen, all the while two, sometimes four, waitstaff depending on the evening, help keep the operation running smooth.
“It's been our dream, Deb said, “to do this and considering everything that's been happening with COVID and getting furloughed from work and my mom has been in and out of hospital. So that's been challenging. She had to get moved to a nursing home. We have, just like everyone, we've had our crosses to bear, but we just keep moving forward. And so far, we've been really blessed. This whole Music on the Veranda has been a huge boom to our business”, she admitted. “Yeah, it's really been wonderful experience,” Homer added.
“It's hard work, and it's really, really wonderful being self-employed. You know, I'm exhausted at night, but it's a good feeling,” Deb said with a smile.
Visit The Old Oak Inn on Facebook.
