This B&B is yours for a cool $799,000

EDMONDS — It's a six-bedroom, six-bathroom home full of antiques and comforters. Guests sit downstairs at a dining table with their newspapers, savoring a lazy morning over a frittata.

It's a typical day at the Edmonds Inn Bed and Breakfast — with one exception.

The inn, one of only three bed-and-breakfasts in arguably Snohomish County's most picturesque city, is up for sale. And it's all for sale — every antique, couch and wing chair, dishes, rugs, patio furniture and the rest of the furnishings in the 3,280-square-foot home.

But it won't come cheap: The asking price is $799,000.

April Waddy, the 29-year-old owner, is getting married. She and her fiancé, Robert Nowak, are moving to a different Edmonds neighborhood. Though it could be sold as a private home, "I hope somebody keeps it the way it is," Waddy said. "That's what we've been praying."

The property, built in 1917, is zoned as a bed-and-breakfast and has separate innkeepers' quarters. The house was moved in the 1950s from four blocks north to its present location at 202 Third Ave. S.

The home was remodeled in 1988 by Linda and Tom Pinkham, who operated it as Pinkham's Pillow, a bed-and-breakfast. In 1992, they sold it to a man who rented it out as a day-care center, and in 1998, it was purchased by Aglow International, a nonprofit Christian women's organization, which renovated it once again and used it as a retreat.

Waddy bought the home in January 2002 and turned it back into an inn.

It's been used for more than lodging. The Driftwood Players have presented several readings there, and art exhibits have shown at the inn. Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door booked the inn for a week for its annual company meeting.

"Her bed-and-breakfast is at the center of everything but tucked away from noise," said Michael Young, co-owner of Olives Gourmet Foods and treasurer of the Downtown Edmonds Merchants' Association.

"Our parents and many of our friends who come to town stay there. We get a fair amount of people who say, 'If we were going to spend the night, where would we go?' We send a lot of people to April's."

Room rates range from $80 to $120 a night.

Waddy worked in supply management at Boeing's Everett plant before quitting and buying the bed-and-breakfast. Before that, she ran political campaigns in Oregon.

"When I bought this B&B, I was a single mom, and I bought it so that I could spend more time with my son," Waddy said. "Now that I'm getting married Aug. 2, I decided to concentrate on our home life."

Being an innkeeper is like running any small business, Waddy said.

"You're here a lot. The basic responsibility is checking people in, checking people out and doing breakfast. People get keys to the house, so ... there's no responsibility to be here all day long. But we do have someone live here on site."

Meanwhile, Waddy is looking toward a life with her new husband and her son, Isaiah, 7.

"I'll be raising my family," she said. "Best job in the world."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com