Because of the historic nature of the building, Ruger said that he started going to “auction after auction and buying every period piece I could to furnish the hotel.” Ruger described the experience. “I’d have this great carpenter spending hours trying to fix a glass knob on an old dresser, and once that got fixed the foot would break off, and it was an endless task,” he said. “Finally I said, To heck with this, and decided to just buy gorgeous, comfortable modern furniture. And the building serves as the historical backdrop.”
There’s a large reprinted photo of the original tavern, which Ruger used to rebuild the space to match the original. “I thought it would be the perfect thing to have a tavern here where guests or a wedding party or a business group, reunion, [or] couple could end their day after being out in the mountains or the Woodstock Film Festival or the thousands of things they could enjoy in the region and have a few drinks without having to worry about getting into their cars,” he said. “That’s a nice, safe thing to have.”
While the 1850 House serves breakfast and has a coffee bar all hours of the day, Ruger said that he wasn’t interested in providing all three meals. “I’d rather provide guests with a comfortable stay, get their coffee and breakfast in the morning, and let them either relax here or go out and enjoy all that Rosendale and the Hudson Valley have to offer. [We’ll] send them to any number of great local restaurants, and then have them come back and hang out at the tavern or in the reading room or our [expansive] living area — and soon the deck — and enjoy a great night’s sleep.”
Although there are any number of things to do right out the front door of the 1850 House, Ruger has tried to make the hotel so comfortable, aesthetically pleasing and historically compelling that a guest might be hard-pressed to leave. How was business going? “Amazingly well,” he replied. “We were full for the Memorial Day weekend. People are booking rooms all summer long. And, for just having opened up in March, I couldn’t be more pleased with how well we’ve been received and how quickly the word-of-mouth is spreading.”
He admits that he got “lucky” when the 1850 House got a write-up in New York Magazine’s spring edition, as well as in a magazine serving Westchester County. “We’re still getting a lot of business from that, which is nice,” he said.
Ruger likes being a hotelier. Although he has a professionally trained, full-time innkeeper on the premises at all times, he says it feels like he’s there himself almost all the time. “Seriously, I love it here,” he said. “And the guests are so nice. Some stay to themselves, which I completely understand and respect, and others want to talk and ask questions and you find out what interesting people they are. It’s been so enjoyable.”
If you want to stay the night, recommend the hotel to a friend, book it for a wedding, or just go in and have a beer or soda at the tavern, make sure to take a look at the 1850 House. Stop by or visit the website at www.1850house.com.
