famous third-floor poolroom? (It’s now two of three spacious suites.) “Almost from the get-go, we thought Seven Gables would be per- fect for a bed and breakfast,” says Maureen. “But we were reluctant to tell too many people until we had all the details figured out. Somehow people found out anyway.” Landscape designer and long- time family friend, Les Lonsbary, was among them. “I have an uncle in real estate and he told me he’d heard Ed and Mau- reen had purchased the old Tillson house on Oxford Street and were considering a B&B,” he says. Intrigued, Les made a phone call to Ed. He not only confirmed the story, but invited Les to come for a tour when they took possession on September 1, 2016. He did, and like the rest of the McLaughlin family, quickly fell in love. “I’m an antiques guy and I started coming across items at auctions and estate sales that I thought Ed and Maureen might be interested in for the house,” Les recalls. “I started passing leads along and from there, my involvement just kind of snow- balled.” Soon Les was drawing up floor plans of each room and plotting out where the assorted ‘finds’ would go. He amassed period light fixtures and rugs, and even started research- ing period wallpaper patterns. “Ed and I kept thinking we’d need to find a couple to run the place,” says Maureen. “I remember Ed asking, ‘Who’s going to cook?’ and Les saying, ‘I can do that.’ Then it was, ‘Who’s going to do clean and do laundry?’ and Les said he could do that too.” “I’d been managing those tasks for myself for the last 30+ years,” Les laughs. “And they already knew I could handle the outside stuff.” In the end, after a lot of consider- ation, Ed and Maureen offered Les an opportunity to become the first official innkeeper at Seven Gables Tillsonburg. It’s a role that these days, at least, keeps him busy seven days a week.
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