LaSalle Bed and Breakfast Inn will have a new owner

The historic LaSalle Bed and Breakfast Inn will have a new owner, but it will continue providing downtown innkeeping under the same name, its longtime owners and the buyer said.

Clark and Rose-Aimee Butler sold the inn business and property Tuesday to Mike Anderson, a real estate investor who describes himself as an "old house nerd" whose West Central Properties business owns 175 residential units — including the Sheridan Court Apartments on Union Street — in the historic West Central neighborhood west of downtown. The sale price was not disclosed.

The sale includes the LaSalle inn's historic main house at 517 W. Washington Blvd. and the even older Sion Bass House & Spa just east of it at 509 W. Washington Blvd.

"What Clark and Rose-Aimee put together long ago still is going to ring true," Anderson said.

The primary use of the buildings will remain a bed and breakfast inn, but a portion of the space will be set up as market-rate residential units, said Anderson, who has lived in the West Central neighborhood since late 1994.

The inn is closed to guests now, and Anderson plans to do some work to the homes to "bring it up to contemporary use," he said. He hopes the inn will be ready to receive guests by Halloween or Thanksgiving, and certainly by Christmas.

Anderson said he has known the Butlers and their family for many years, dating all the way back to when he took a college class from Clark at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, where Clark Butler now is a professor emeritus of philosophy.

He shares their interest in saving the historic homes that make up the LaSalle inn, saying the houses and inn are part of what provides the "soul" to downtown.

The Butlers initially bought the Thomas Snook House at 517 W. Washington Blvd. about 27 years ago so Rose-Aimee could continue giving dance lessons she had been offering through Catholic Charities, they said. About 15 years ago, the couple decided to convert the home into the LaSalle Bed and Breakfast Inn.

They acquired the Sion Bass house in September 2010, property records said, and renovated it for inn use, too.

The Snook house, which property records said was built about 1890, originally stood at the northwest corner of Fairfield Avenue and West Jefferson Boulevard, where the Starbucks coffeehouse is located today, Clark Butler said. The house, which Snook built himself as a duplex for his family, was moved to its present location around 1930 or soon after, historic city directories indicate.

The Sion Bass House was built in 1842, property records said. Bass, a prominent local businessman who led the 30th Indiana Regiment in the Civil War, was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and died a week later.

The Butlers are selling largely because they moved to Rose-Aimee's homeland of France about two and a half years ago, they said. They had relied on managers to keep the inn going, but maintenance wasn't always done they way they would do it, Clark said.

Some issues have been addressed, he said. Real estate broker Brandon Steffen of The Steffen Group, who the Butlers used for the sale, also plans to send in a crew to take care of other work, Clark said.

Some of the past problems resulted in violations being issued by the city of Fort Wayne's Neighborhood Code Compliance department.

The Butlers had planned to work with Steffen to auction the homes and their contents in mid-October, Steffen said. He helped connect the Butlers with Anderson, who was interested in buying the properties.

The Butlers said they have enjoyed running the inn, both for the people they have met and through the fun they have had decorating guest rooms and suites in themes based on places they have lived, such as the Africa Room and Hollywood Room.

"I enjoyed sitting around the breakfast table with sophisticated guests and talking about world affairs," Clark added.

Rose-Aimee most enjoyed providing guests with great service, especially when they were staying there for a special event, such as a wedding night, birthday or anniversary.

"You meet a lot of people," she said. "You never knew the kind of customer you will get."

More Information

Check for updates

For updates on when the LaSalle Bed and Breakfast Inn will reopen, go to the West Central Properties website at liveinwestcentral.com.