When a retired Florida doctor and his daughter bought a 19th century sea captain’s house in Searsport in 2019, they knew it would take a lot of restoration work to bring it back as a bed-and-breakfast.
To date, they have invested approximately $1 million to tackle the interior and part of the exterior of Captain Nickels Inn.
“It’s been a fun three years,” Dawn Gintz told Mainebiz.
In 2019, Gintz, then a recently retired medical dosimetrist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, purchased the property at 127 East Main St. for an undisclosed sum.
She was joined by her daughter, Cassidy Gintz, who owned a pet sitting business before moving to Searsport.
Owning a bed and breakfast was a longtime dream and something she and her daughter wanted to do together, Gintz said.
Courtesy/Captain Nickels Inn
Dawn and Cassidy Gintz focused on custom design and reproduction for the 19th century inn rehabilitation.
While Cassidy undertook most of the room design work, the two and a host of contractors have spent the past three winters renovating.
“The house has been abandoned for a long time. It wasn’t in the best shape,” she said. “Every year we do a huge project.”
They run the hostel year-round, but close when a renovation project is underway.
The Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1874 by Captain AV Nickels as a gift to his wife, Elizabeth.
The house sits on 3 acres on Penobscot Bay and includes two living rooms, a library, a dining room, a solarium with sea views and large terraces. The rooms are individually designed with period antiques. The rooms have names such as Port of Call Dublin and Port of Call Istanbul and feature elements specific to these cultures.
There is a summer cottage with a terrace and a fire pit, as well as extensive lawns.
Features include original wood floors, ornate exterior trim, and a ballroom that seats at least 50 people.
The Gintzes hired RH Lambeth Builders in Stockton Springs as general contractor, with Kurt Reed overseeing all projects. They started by fixing a number of leaks in the roof, renovating a bathroom and replacing the floor in the kitchen and the front terrace, among other projects.
Structural issues included a broken beam that needed to be lifted and secured.
They converted an office into a guest bedroom and upgraded all the bathrooms with modern fittings, but designed to match the classic style of the structure.
A big job was to replace the widow’s path and a cupola, which included finding a craftsman in Maine who could handle the copper design and installation. The company that made the new copper mattress topper was Roof Systems of Maine in Bangor, and the craftsman was David Hazelton.
Courtesy / Bruce Hanson, AM Roofing
David Hazelton of Roof Systems of Maine in Bangor installed a new copper mattress topper at the 19th century Captain Nickels Inn.
Last year they demolished the hallway down to the studs (including the horsehair plaster) and installed new insulation, drywall and electrical systems in the hallway and bedrooms.
New paneling was custom made for the hallway.
“Cassidy found what would have been vintage paneling and she’s working with our carpenter and he’s replicating it,” Gintz said. “None of this was pre-fabricated.”
The ballroom measures approximately 1,000 square feet and features a tin ceiling. The middle part of the original pewter was in good condition and has been preserved. The Gintzes found a replacement pewter for the perimeter that complements the overall style at Classic Ceilings in Fullerton, CA. RH Lambeth Builders did the installation.
The ballroom had structural problems, however.
“It used to be a barn, and in the 1920s it was turned into a ballroom,” she said. The walls and ceiling were cut open exposing barn remains such as rings to which horses were tied.
The ballroom received new drywall, panel molding and paint using a color that was custom mixed for the project and is now named Ballroom Blue,” Gintz said.
Courtesy/Captain Nickels Inn
The ballroom paint was custom mixed for the project and is now called ballroom blue.
The ballroom is marketed for weddings and events, which include a murder mystery weekend, baby showers, and several memorial services.
The original parquet has been restored and some of the boards have been repositioned to replace the boards that were beyond repair. Ben Knowlton of Ben Knowlton Construction in Northport is responsible for restoring the wood floor.
Alton Bolstridge, with a Brownville carpentry, cabinetry, and millwork company called Uncle Buck’s, reproduced the interior doors, door trim, and windows to replicate the originals.
Bruce Fields with Fields Painting in Winterport took care of the painting, as well as the restoration work on the walls and ceiling.
Tidewater Oil Co. in Belfast helped repair and restore the original steam heaters to working order.
Now mother and daughter focus on the exterior of the building.
“The project this winter will be more outdoor work,” Gintz said. “We don’t just fix things. We restore the house.
The goal is to have the exterior completed within a year or two. This includes the installation of custom replicated moldings and replacement clapboard.
Charlie Ulmschneider of Belfast CNC in Belfast replicated the exterior trim.
The Gintzes expanded the land from 3 to 6 acres when they acquired a neighboring parcel, and they also added gardens and rest areas.
The project is funded by Camden National Bank.
When she purchased the property, the bed and breakfast business itself was negligible, Gintz said.
Two days after buying the hostel, they set up a temporary website that was much more user-friendly than the previous website, she said.
“We are big believers in broadcasting and publicity,” she continued. “Ten months after we opened, our real website went live.”
While 2020 was scary, it probably wasn’t as bad for them as it was for established owners, she said. They had made a big leap into the hospitality business not long before, had a five-year plan in place, and knew it would take a while to get the business started anyway.
As a result, she says, their success today is a pleasant surprise.
“We didn’t expect to be where we are now,” she said. “We just knew we had to do better than the first year. And we didn’t have a big mortgage. We had bought a house that needed work.
Today, the company helps pay for the renovations, and many customers come back three or four times.
“Every year we’ve done better,” she said. “I don’t think we’re done growing.”
