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Redmond B&B is Couple's Post-Retirement Dream

Meritage Meadows lets its owners indulge their passion for wine.

Bob Spencer has a twinkle in his eye. Sunlight is streaming through the windows at the bed-and-breakfast he owns and manages with his wife, and his disposition matches the weather.

“I feel young again,” he says. “(This has) fulfilled my every wish.”

Bob, 60, and his wife, Karen, 62, opened the doors to in June 2010. The bed-and-breakfast has been a post-retirement dream come true, after Bob’s career in engineering management and Karen’s work raising the couple's two sons.

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The Spencers, who live in their own private section of the inn, have transformed a former private residence into a 6,000-square-foot-inn, complete with five guest rooms, a wine cellar and numerous nooks and crannies for lodgers to curl up in and relax.

Set on 14 acres surrounded by tall evergreens and tucked away off Union Hill Road, Meritage Meadows feels further removed from society than its three-mile distance from downtown Redmond would have you believe. When the Spencers first saw the property in 2009, they were drawn to it instantly, Bob said.

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“We were just taken by how well this fit into our vision of what we wanted to do,” he said.

After purchasing the property, the Spencers went to work remodeling the house almost completely on their own, which put Bob on a first-name basis with the employees at Home Depot, he said.

Now that the inn is open, it’s remained a small operation, with Bob and Karen performing all the day-to-day duties. He handles the cooking and renovations; she takes care of the finances and the housekeeping. Both said they love to interact with the guests.

“I’ve always enjoyed meeting people and taking care of people,” Karen said. “Now, (with my sons grown), I don’t have anyone to take care of. (Bob) doesn’t let me take care of him.” They both laugh.

Linda Carlson and her husband stayed at Meritage Meadows in October, traveling from Washington, D.C., to visit their son in Duvall. It certainly didn’t seem like a brand new business, she said.

“We were so impressed that Bob and Karen were new to this, as they seem to have thought of everything to make a stay pleasant and to make guests feel comfortable,” she said in an e-mail. “They're the perfect B&B host and hostess — they're warm, interesting, welcoming (and) laid back.”

Gary Passavant, membership and marketing director for the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce, said he believes Meritage Meadows is one of only two bed-and-breakfasts in Redmond. The second B&B is A Cottage Creek Inn, located on Avondale Road Northeast along the city's northern edge.

At Meritage Meadows, delving into the bed-and-breakfast business has given Bob the opportunity to pursue another of his passions — wine. It’s evident in the inn’s name (“meritage” is a term for Bordeaux-style wines), the names of the guest rooms (each refers to one of the state’s wine-growing regions) and the wine in the cellar, about half of which is Bob’s own product. He’s not licensed to sell it, but he can serve it as part of the free daily wine tastings.

Just up the hill from the main house is a secondary building where a winery is beginning to come together. The Spencers hope to have it commercially running in the next few years, they said. Like the event terrace being built near the main property, it’s part of the continuing evolution of Meritage Meadows.

At less than a year old, Meritage Meadows is still trying to establish a clientele. Since opening, the inn has been running at about 25 percent occupancy, with around 250 unique customers in 2010, Bob said. He projects at least a 10 percent increase this year.

The couple has also taken steps to attract more business travelers, in addition to the vacationers who have made up much of their customer base so far, and they're confident that will happen in time. For now, they’re enjoying what they’ve built.

“This is our little dream,” Karen said.

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