The friends are realizing their dreams through a business partnership in the new Ainsley Rose Victorian Manor, home to a bed and breakfast and event locale.
The Ainsley Rose has opened its doors in a 1920s home that’s Victorian inside and out. Located at 1318 Ohio 202, the house is located south of the intersection with Ohio 41 just east of Troy and near a section of Miami County bike path.
Reed (formerly Michelle Gearhardt) is a lawyer in Troy, while Koehler, a former Medway area resident, has lived at the property since January.
Reed bought the house in 2011 and lived there a time before marrying. Koehler will operate the bed and breakfast.
Longtime friends, the partnership grew out of dreams and discussions over a period of time.
Reed grew up on a farm near West Milton and lived in Covington in a brick ranch house she converted to a Victorian style before moving to Troy a few years ago. She was familiar with the Ohio 202 house from driving by — and admiring it — over the years, but became more excited when a Realtor mentioned its availability.
“I walked up to the back. At my old house, I had an inground pool, a gazebo and a Victorian wanna-be house. I was like, ‘This is home: My inground pool, a gazebo and my real Victorian house,’ ” Reed said.
“I came in here, fell in love with it,” she added of the decision to buy and the purchase in May 2011.
Koehler and her late husband had visited Vermont many times, visiting an array of beautiful bed and breakfasts.
“We talked about a second career of running a bed and breakfast. Unfotunately, he passed,” Koehler aid. “I never thought a lot more about the dream second career. It was like a dream lost.”
One night the women were talking about the house and what Reed was going to do with it.
“I told her about the bed and breakfast idea. We talked about it, and it just grew and grew,” Koehler said of the planning.
The bed and breakfast offers three bedrooms along with a bridal room. Other space is available for additional bedrooms. There’s already reservations for the bed and breakfast along with the booking of some events such as a retirement party. The women hope to offer tea parties for girls and other special events once the business becomes established.
Reed said the home was built in 1927 by a member of the Troy Hayner family and had been in the Braun family since the 1950s before her purchase.
For more information on The Ainsley Rose, call 937-879-9714.
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