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ELIZABETH BETTENDORFA Tampa couple's bed-and-breakfast, in a century-old house, is patterned after those in New England and furnished with touches of home.
BEACH PLACE - Cindy Ryan can whip out a fragrant platter of French toast, find a mattress so plump it will induce drowsiness and pick out rocking chairs that invite one to linger.
She also knows how to man a control tower and land F-4 jets.
A typical bed-and-breakfast proprietor she's not.
But the former military air traffic controller and longtime real estate agent jokes that she has what it takes to run a historic inn at the edge of downtown Tampa: a gift for "serious multitasking."
She and her husband opened their bed-and-breakfast in August.
The century-old house, bathed in Key West yellow, stands on a sliver of street between Plant Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard.
"We had stayed in bed-and-breakfasts all over Maine and thought they were great," she says. "We loved the big front porches, the grand ceilings, the living rooms where guests could mingle."
For years, the Ryans toyed with the idea of opening their own bed-and-breakfast, but were stymied by zoning rules in historic neighborhoods as well as Tampa's stiff parking regulations.
When an old beach house at 203 Verne St. went up for sale last year, they jumped at the chance to buy it. They paid $675,000 for the 3,500-square-foot house in March and then put another $175,000 into restoration.
"The house was in very bad shape," Ryan recalls of the structure that had been converted over the years from private home to fraternity house to apartments. "We had all kinds of termites - dry wood, subterranean, you name it."
The problems didn't end with insects: At some point, a bathroom was constructed in what is now the entrance hall. A metal coat hanger secured the front door knobs and the beautiful period doorways were concealed behind sheets of flimsy drywall.
"We literally just peeled back the walls and, voila, there was the real house," she says.
Her years with Realty Executives taught her to look beyond the mess and at the real bones of a house.
The Ryans contracted out much of the work but enhanced some of the decor through creative cosmetic changes. The original glass-and-wood kitchen cabinets stayed but got a fresh coat of paint. John's sister painted an Aztec-inspired mural of a sun on the wall of an upstairs suite.
They refurbished the heart-pine floors, the cherry wood staircase and the front entrance foyer. They painted the rooms shades of cranberry, ivory and the palest marsh green. Cindy filled the shelves and walls with snippets of her past: her grandmother's teapot and flower paintings, her mother's crystal clock, an antique family crystal creamer and sugar bowl in the kitchen.
Even the dainty 1930s percolator belonged to her grandmother.
"I was trying to avoid the mundane look of hotels," Ryan says, "the same pictures on the walls, the same comforters on the beds. My family history is all over this house."
The finished interior effectively combines both masculine and feminine attitudes, incorporating ornate Victorian chairs upholstered in leather, vintage suitcases by the front hall tree that Ryan picked up at a thrift store, a four-poster planter's bed bedecked in safari-themed linens.
Since the doors opened two months ago, about 50 guests have booked rooms at the Ryan House. Rooms go for $125 to $175 a night through January, when rates go up during the peak winter season.
The Ryans, who live in New Tampa and are raising four children, recently hired an on-site manager. Ryan shared recipes that include the homey cinnamon French toast. Guests also feast on sausage casserole with smoked cheddar, sweet potato hash browns and apple crisp.
"People are so full they don't want to eat lunch," Ryan says, laughing. "I've had people tell me they gained 5 pounds staying here."
On a Monday afternoon in October, the house smelled like the hazelnut candles that Ryan loves to burn atop the big roll-top innkeeper's desk. The kitchen and dining room were stocked with flavored teas, home-baked cookies and cold drinks. Guests wandered in and out. George Richards, a structural engineer from California - here for a steel-framing conference - heated up breakfast leftovers in the microwave and spread out paperwork on the living room table.
"How many times can you stay at a Marriott before it gets boring?" he asked. "This feels a lot like my own home."
Stephanie Gibson, a guest from Boca Raton, had been staying at a downtown hotel when she discovered the Ryan House and decided to move.
"They're so friendly, so nice to me," she said. "Plus I can walk into the kitchen any time I want."
Though their guests have chiefly been business travelers looking for a touch of home away from home, the Ryans hope to generate business from wedding parties.
The house may be rented out for $150 for a four-hour reception, providing guests hire a caterer and clean up. For a recent wedding, the bride descended the front staircase and exchanged vows in front of the living room fireplace.
Cindy Ryan met her husband, John, on a blind date seven years ago at a Tampa comedy club. "We just sat and looked at each other all night long, then called each other the next day and have been together ever since," she said.
They love to travel and get to do so on the cheap because John Ryan is a ramp agent for Southwest Airlines.
When it comes to lodging, they opt for cozy over corporate, a preference they hope a lot of tourists share.
"Here, you can roam around the house, munch on cookies and muffins, get to know the other guests if you feel like it," Ryan said.
- For rates and information, call the Bayshore Ryan House at 253-3142.
The house will be part of this year's Bed and Breakfast Holiday Taste and Tour from 3 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 7. The cost is $15 and proceeds go to the St. Petersburg Tennis Center First Serve program. For tour details, call 727 742-5751 or check out the Internet site: www.spaabbi.com