Blue Belle Inn Bed and Breakfast and Tea Room

Secret Garden

Welcome to Victorian Elegance at the Blue Belle Inn Bed & Breakfast! Located in St. Ansgar, Iowa, "The Best little Hometown in Iowa", the Blue Belle Inn Bed and Breakfast awaits you! Rediscover the romance of the 1890's while enjoying the comfort and convenience of the new millennium in one of six distinctively decorated guest rooms. Built in 1896, the interior of this Queen Anne Victorian is highlighted by fireplaces, wood floors, tin ceilings with ornate moldings, and eight foot maple pocket doors. Leaded glass, stained glass and crystal chandeliers set in bay and curved windows pockets create a shimmering interplay of light and color. A gleaming maple banister winds to the second floor and opens onto a balcony overlooking sprawling maple trees, flowers and a fish pond. Candlelit, lace-covered tables, heirloom china and festive foodstuffs featuring German, English, French Italian, Scandinavian or American Country cuisines provide an unforgettable dining experience for weekend guests and local patrons alike. Curl up in a corner with a good book or explore St. Ansgar's unique Victorian, antique and country stores, tea room, and bridal theatre. Rent a canoe from a local purveyor and float down the Cedar River or bring your bicycle and take a scenic countryside ride. Hunting, cross country skiing, golfing, fishing and hiking are favorite local pastimes.

Events at the Inn include concerts, murder mysteries, horse-drawn sleigh rides,
quilting, cooking, craft workshops, and various other good times throughout the year.

Fine Dining at the Blue Belle Inn!

We are open to the public every Friday and Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., and we're happy to serve overnight guests any night of the week. Private parties for groups of 10 or more can also be arranged for any night of the week. You are welcome to bring wine, beer, or champagne to enjoy with your meal. We will provide wine glasses and corkscrews.

We feature seasonal favorites for dessert - Fresh Peach Pie with Strawberry Glaze, Copenhagen Cream with Raspberries, Lumpy Bumpy Toffee Pie, Blueberry French Cream Pie, Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Warm Caramel Sauce, a variety of Cheesecakes, and Victoria Sponge with Berries and Buttercream to name a few. Although you'll pay a little extra if you choose to have dessert, you'll have many delicious options to choose from!

Anne's House of Dreams, the newest addition to the Blue Belle Inn, is located a few feet to the north of the main house. The house, which was built in 1891, has been totally rebuilt from the ground up to offer a perfect balance of old and new, with new wiring, air-conditioning and heat, and state of the art bathroom and kitchen facilities. The house has large sunny windows, and two window seats that add architectural interest to the inside and exterior of the house. Quaint, period gingerbread highlights the exterior, which is roofed with green shakes in keeping with the Anne of Green Gables theme, and painted a medium mauve, with wineberry accents and dark green doors.

The house faces west, and is handicap accessible from the southeast side of the house via a ramp that leads to a deck on the southeast corner of the house. The deck wraps around the back of the house; a separate stairway leads to the second floor, where there is a small balcony and an exterior entrance to the second floor. The first and second floors may be rented separately or as one spacious unit that sleeps 6 to 8, with two bathrooms.

The first floor of the house, called Four Winds, has solid Brazilian cherry floors, cherry doors and trim, two window seats, and a lovely oak kitchen furnished with dishes, cooking and baking pans, a dishwasher, a self-cleaning electric range, a refrigerator with an icemaker, a microwave, desk, and dining room table.

The first floor bathroom features a romantic double shower with an Italian quarry tile floor and walls. The shower is fully handicap accessible, with a bench and an adjustable height showerhead. A stacked washer and dryer is also present for use by guests and staff.

The living room has two full-sized, solid cherry, futons with plush, 8â€Â thick mattresses for comfortable seating during the day, and sleeping for 2 to 4 at night. The futons are specially made, front loading, wall-hugger models made for easy conversion from sofa to bed. We are happy to have one or both units made into beds upon check-in, but they will be set up for easy conversion at bedtime. The rooms are decorated in subtle shades of moss green, cherry wine, butterscotch, dusty blue, and plum with custom window treatments and coverlets.

There are two bedrooms on the second floor, called Green Gables, both with wood floors and area rugs. The master suite has a plush, pillow-topped, king size bed with a handmade quilt with appliquéd hearts and antique buttons, a comfortable seating area, a spacious closet, and a TV/DVD/VCR.

The second bedroom has two twin beds, and is decorated with handmade quilts in blue and pink, with one side for a boy and the other for a girl. (While the first and second floors of the house may be rented separately, the two bedrooms on the second floor will only be rented to one party for privacy.)

The spacious second floor bathroom has a pedestal sink, and a large, heart-shaped, corner whirlpool for two with a hand held shower sprayer. The whirlpool is trimmed with granite, with a black and white tiled floor.

Staying at the Blue Belle Inn is especially fun for older children who have read Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books, Maud Hart Lovelace's "Betsy Tacy" books, or "Peter Pan", "The Secret Garden", "Robin Hood", or Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time", after which our storybook-themed guest rooms are named. Smaller children are also welcome.

Parents, please let us know if you would like us to move things up and out of reach.