I just have to tell everyone!    So thankful for more wonderful guests this past year and all those who enjoyed the beauty of the Flint Hills and this charming small town as they celebrated the rodeo, the symphony,  many weddings, and quiet weekends of rest.  So exciting all the plans our local merchants have and their faithful service on main street.  And more plans in the works in neighboring towns.   The community spirit is quite strong here as the children grow, students, graduate and learn the most important lessons along the way.  

Several of the visions have yet happened.  And, this desire remains to have a house of guests who begin this prayer journey.    If you and your friends would be interested please let me know and we can plan a wonderful weekend getaway to get started on this journey.  Mike Bickle is the 1999 founder of Kansas City House of Prayer which is mobilizing churches and believers all over the world to pray for the release of God's power and spirit.

All for now and have a healthy and blessed New Year!



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How about giving the gift of rest and relaxation to your special people.  Our guest house or Bed and Breakfast as requested are available.  We offer guest rooms with breakfast each morning or the guesthouse that accomodates 10 adults plus a few children. 

We have a great Weekend Getaway deal!   Just $200 plus local taxes will provide a Friday and Saturday night spacious guest room with king size bed and a wonderful spa bath and shower with hot breakfast each morning.  We also have guesthouse rates and the five guest rooms for your gathering.

The peace and quiet of this charming town is a delightful getaway.  Super friendly main street merchants and galleries.  And the beautiful vistas of the Flint Hills can be seen all around.  

Please find the gift certificates to print and give to your special people.  Payment will be due at their time of booking.   Please contact Carla
​316-393-3194 with how we can help you.  

Guesthouses all over the world are a popular and unique places  to stay while traveling or getting some time away for some rest and recharge.  

Guesthouses can offer all the comforts of home plus a great location.  Spring Street Retreat is located in the peaceful countryside and in the a charming town of Cottonwood Falls.  Main street merchants are eager to meet you.  Unique gifts, collectibles, quilt and fabric shop, artwork of all kinds are awaiting you on main street in Cottonwood Falls.  If you have never had the opportunity to experience a small town this is highly recommended.  

We are pleased to offer our guests this spacious and unique antique home.  The five guestrooms are all located on the second floor and are large and spacious and have king size beds for your sleeping comfort.  Our spa bath has luxurious towels, toiletries and wonderful large shower when you are ready to get cleaned up after a day enjoying the countryside and the Tallgrass Preserve hiking trails.  Two other full baths are also available for your convenience and  your privacy.

Our breakfast table is a great place to gather for morning coffee with  your friends and family.  Out kitchen is designed for occasions such as this.  We provide many essentials for your convenience.    Just plan the menu for your weekend getaway and fill the refrigerator with your favorite foods. 
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The verandas are a "must" so be sure and plan time to enjoy them.
Contact us at springstreetreservations@gmail.com to inquire.  Or find us on VRBO.  We will be glad to confirm your reservation with a list of all the offerings of this special place that is ready for you and your loved ones. 

Great Weekend Getaway Deal!  Two night stay with breakfast each morning in this  charming quiet small town.  Visit the Tallgrass Preserve and the super friendly merchants on main street.  Upcoming special events too.
9/17 River Suite on the Bridge
9/24 WoodFest and family music and art camp at Camp Wood
11/26 Christmas in the Country and tours

 The Tallgrass Preserve is open all year around which we love!  But, it is getting to be peak season which does not mean overwhelming crowds or any waiting in line.  Just the fresh breezy scents of the prairie grasses and flowers and the sweet songs of the birds who make their homes in the native grasses.   Coming up Memorial Weekend we are a guesthouse featuring 5 spacious guest rooms and all the comforts of home for  your family and friends.  Bring your groceries and enjoy a relaxing weekend in this charming small town.  There is a free family event taking place at the Tallgrass Preserve on Saturday.  Children get to experience working ranch life and animals in the magnificent stone barn that graces this historic ranch.   Please follow our FB page and the Tallgrass Preserve to know what is happening each weekend in the green rolling hills of Kansas. 

Happy Holidays from our home to yours!   I hope your festivities are going well and all you and yours are safe and healthy.  One more gift idea for you and possibly the people in your life who enjoy experiences.  A visit to Spring Street is a wonderful option.  Give the gift of rest and relaxation in this peaceful and charming town.  Friendly merchants, excellent restaurants and the Tallgrass Preserve is a very special gift.  The Preserve is open year around.  The stars are shining each night.  The bison are roaming.   You may print this certificate and then when the reservation is made I will be in contact with you for payment.  Have a very blessed and happy holiday season.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions  316-393-3194.

​Print:  websitegiftcertificate.pdf

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Plan a special holiday gathering at Spring Street Retreat in Cottonwood Falls.  You can find us on VRBO for weekend stay for 10 plus a few extra beds for children.  Enjoy all the comforts of home plus a big yard, verandas, dining space and family room.  We will be decorated for the holidays the next several months so you and your loved ones, friends, family are invited for a weekend getaway in this peaceful and beautiful part of Kansas.  Excellent local restaurants and local shopping are unique and truly special.  And, the Tallgrass Preserve is open year around with 40 miles of hiking trails with bison views.   There is not a better place to gather for peace, quiet and family fun.    Please call me 316-393-3194 with any questions.  Please find us  on VRBO and book your very special weekend getaway.  We have five spacious guestrooms all with king size beds and all the comforts of home for your family and friends. 

Next Saturday September 25  is the the River Suite dinner and music event to support our local chamber of commerce.  We have tickets for our Spring Street guests.  

Always nice to hear from Cheryl Heller Olson.  She will be bringing a new picture by to fill the space of one that sold.  Excited to see a new work!  The Storm Cloud picture went to be home in Houston.  I love being a gallery for Cheryl because she depicts the Kansas landscape so wonderfully.  The second floor guestrooms all have one of her paintings and there are more in the dining area and main hall.  I still remember as we were setting up for the Thanksgiving weekend Christmas tour in 2016 that two of the Prairie PastTime artists called.  First Eric Dyck and then Cheryl.  Dr. Dyck brought a wonderful display of photo's depicting the local iconic scenes perfect for the Spring Street living room.  They have been a wonderful reference for those visiting the area.  The bison in front of the school house at the Tallgrass Preserve with fresh spring grass, the Courthouse with the rising moon, the silhouette of the cowboy and the night burning, the falls overflowing with rainfall and decorated with fall foliage, the mama and baby bison and the Clements bridge reflecting  on a calm  winter day.  Hope everyone is having good week.  Call us soon to book your visit to Spring Street Retreat.  

We offer the Four Season Getaway and the fourth Weekend Getaway free.  We hope Spring Street Retreat will be your home away from home.  This amazing home is located in the charming town of Cottonwood Falls in the beautiful Flint Hills.  This is the perfect place to relax and enjoy this  peaceful  place.  Each of our five guestrooms have king size beds and all spacious and unique.   Our sunny Wildflower guestroom has a fireplace with wonderful sunshine in the afternoons and a cozy seating perfect for a good book.  Our stately Courthouse guestroom also has a fireplace and a door to the veranda for morning coffee.  The Tallgrass Preserve guestroom also opens to the veranda.  And the Symphony guestroom has an extra little alcove for twin bed and we call this our family suite.  Our guests love the spa bath with the beautiful and spacious shower room.  We also have private baths on the main floor and downstairs.  It is a family home and breakfast is provided each Saturday and Sunday morning along with refreshments and snacks.  Our guests enjoy getting to know others and learning about their home towns.  We hope you will visit us soon to enjoy the beauty and changing colors of the prairie.

We completed our  restoration of the Carriage House by securing and  refinished stonework, continued clearing out of debris and such, sweeping, filling low spots with crushed concrete, building a gazebo and hanging solar lights in preparation for a reunion weekend.  When our guests book the 5 guest rooms we can also provide the Carriage House for a small outdoor gathering space.

Since the United State deeded the property June 1, 1860 there has been the list of deed Grantee's (and many mortgages) consisting of John Wintter, Amanda Borders, Mr. and Mrs. John  Shofe, JS Doolittle, Robert Cuthbart, UB Warren, Mary Brockett, Isaac Alexander, HG Davis, Charles Gregory (April, 1907), ED Wilson, Ruth and A Connor, Carl and Iva Cowley and beneficiaries Esther Haskell, Geraldine Arnold, Ruth Crofoot, Holdeman family, and then Kain Palermo in 1977.. Charles  Gregory (built the home when he and Eliizabeth Carter Gregory  were married (please see her picture on the website), but 20 years later he and his brother William had financial difficulties and these proceedings were finalized in May, 1929.

Charles and William came to Cottonwood Falls to operate a mercantile on  Broadway which is currently the home of Tallgrass Antiques.  Charles and William were two young men from New York and due to the tremendous quarry business, as public buildings and universities were being built.  After the proceeding of 1929 this was possibly the home of the  Connor and Cowley families, and then  the Haskell family created apartments in the building in the 1940's.  A number of current community residents remember visiting family or even living in the building. 

According to 2017 personal visit with Elizabeth's great nephew and son of her sister the Carter family had a ranch east of town and her father was a doctor, and her grandfather a district judge appointed by Abraham Lincoln.  Her nephew reported that Elizabeth  relocated to Wichita and near her sister in the College Hill area at some point, but  continued to enjoy the gardening and front porch gatherings of family and friends. 

According to previous owner Jeanette, she and Kain proceeded to return the home to the original floor plan, requiring a careful deconstruction and construction of walls, stairways, and pantry.  Much of this was stored in the basement and attic.  All possible material was utilized in the renovations with all the possible oak gathered and utilized, doors, and painted trim work turned into furnishings for guestrooms.   The original floors on the main and 2nd floor were sanded and restored.  The entry hall stairway to the 2nd floor is believed to be the original.  A matching stair to the attic was built by the previous owner.  In 2017 attic windows were all replaced for better ventilation. 

All other windows are original due to the storm windows built by Kain Palermo protecting  them.  In 2019, these were all taken down, cleaned and hung again,  and the exterior trim work painted.  

The original kitchen is located in the downstairs northwest corner where there is a chimney and an icebox window under the current patio, where I imagine an icebox stood.  I believe there was a practice of somehow gathering ice for this purpose of keeping an icebox cool during the warmer months.  The original sink located on the north wall did unfortunately did not survive when the water and sewage system were connected.   Since my own great grandfather had an ice  business  I can imagine this a little bit.  And, I believe an ice accident caused his death. 

Putting the pieces back together has been an interesting puzzle.  When we were in the trim work phase in the fall of 2016, I asked the carpenter to utilize the  2 pieces of beveled glass that were found leaning against the front window wall, to build a bookcase.  He did a beautiful job building and finishing a new bookcase between front two windows of the living room..  Then the next Saturday, I was again downstairs going through the pile of doors leaning against the wall, and finally against the wall found an exact but wider but exact matching door, and so another bookcase was built utilizing this door.  

I am very grateful for all the workers who have heeded the call and played a part in this process, of building, restoring, and hauling away excess material.   There remains a storage room and attic of doors and wood that we plan to remove next winter, and so please come by to get some material for your next wood working project.