The Power of Intention

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

Three years ago, the new Manor House Innkeeper Sheila Blanchette was spending her days in a cubicle crunching numbers for EBSCO Publishing in Ipswich, Mass., and writing a novel at night about an accountant who daydreamed of becoming an innkeeper. Her protagonist’s lifelong dream soon became Blanchette’s reality.

Through the website www.workingcouples.com, Blanchette and her husband, Richard, zeroed in on the Manor House job listing because of its generous accommodations for the innkeepers, and because its nine guest rooms seemed manageable. After meeting with Manor House Owner Keith Mullins in Florida last winter, the Blanchettes decided to take the job in Norfolk. “I’m very excited with our new innkeepers, and look forward to enhancing the experience for our guests at the Manor House,” says Mullins.

Other than a short stint in Florida, the Blanchettes have lived in New England their whole lives, so they were not daunted by the thought of a Connecticut business venture. After a 30-year residency in Stratham, New Hampshire (near Exeter) where they raised two daughters, the couple was looking for a change of pace, so they moved to Boynton Beach, Florida in 2012. While the climate was different, they found themselves in the same lines of work. “We decided we would like to spend the rest of our working years taking on a new challenge that might be more fun and rewarding,” says Blanchette.

The Blanchette’s aptitudes are certainly well-suited for their new venture. Sheila Blanchette has an accounting background and is a self-described “people person”, while her husband has worked in construction related fields his whole life and “can fix anything”, according to his wife. The hospitality gene has also trickled down to their daughters. Their youngest, Michelle, is studying to be a sommelier at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island and Chelsea, their oldest daughter, lives in Killington, Vermont where she runs a food truck.

Despite breaking her ankle and tearing five ligaments in the opposing foot days before their new venture in Norfolk began, Sheila Blanchette reports that it was a great summer. Business was brisk, with the inn full nearly every weekend, and there was a surprising amount of mid-week activity as well. Concert nights at Infinity usually find the inn full of concert goers. “I love the whole music scene in Norfolk,” says Blanchette. “The people here are all so friendly.”

To support the music theme, the innkeepers have taken to playing the music of whoever is performing at Infinity in the great room, which the guests seem to really appreciate (one guest dedicated an entire Trip Advisor review to that subject). Guests who are in town for concerts at Yale can borrow one of the multiple picnic baskets for guest use.

The Blanchettes are bursting with ideas for the inn, especially with thoughts on how to keep busy in the off-season. The recent “Best Inn” designation in Connecticut Magazine’s “Best of Connecticut” listings is sure to help keep the rooms full, but some new marketing ideas include cross-country skiing weekends with beer tastings in the afternoons, capitalizing on the big curling weekends and girls’ weekends that incorporate local antiquing.

A self-published author of three novels, and a blogger, Sheila Blanchette also hopes to host author talks, writers’ retreats and a monthly book club. She has met with local companies, including Blackberry Baking Company and Lost Ruby Farm in the effort to serve locally made food.

For more information on the inn, and upcoming events, visit www.manorhouseinn.com. To access Blanchette’s blog, visit www.sheilablanchette.wordpress.com. Her three novels are on sale at the inn and at Amazon.

Photo by Bruce Frisch.