Taylor House Celebrates First Anniversary by Dave Elliott and Daryl Bichel

The Jamaica Plain Gazette (Sept. 12, 1997) recently ran an article congratulating Taylor House Bed and Breakfast on a successful first year in business:

PONDSIDE—By David Johnson (excerpt) "After a year in business, owners of the Taylor House at 50 Burroughs St., Daryl Bichel and Dave Elliott, said they are glad they opened the business, which is thriving.

Taylor House guests have come from various U.S. states, especially NY, NJ, and CT, and a number of foreign countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, England, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Brazil, and Argentina.

Elliott said some 5,000 people have visited their Internet site since it was created a year ago. One guest called Jamaica Plain "a hidden treasure in Boston," a comment which Elliott put on the JP section of the web site. When the inn was seeking approval, some neighbors feared an overflow of vehicles on the street, which Elliott said has not happened.

Bichel, who works at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Elliott, who left his position as a computer trainer and teaches on a contract basis, are happy they opened Taylor House."

At this time of year we share this with great thanksgiving for the many from Old South who supported us at the second round of hearings at Boston City Hall on a dank and rainy Tuesday morning in August of 1996. The grueling hearing lasted over an hour as the politically charged opposition made their biased points and we forthrightly presented our case. For those of you there who joined the 60-strong in support with "JP needs a B&B" badges blazoned to our lapels, it truly felt like a moral triumph when the board voted unanimously in our favor. It felt like the end of It's A Wonderful Life!

And all of this transpired despite the fury of City Counselor "Dapper" O'Neil pontificating, "the City will be opening a Pandora's Box in Jamaica Plain. How do WE know what type of people will be coming in and out of there!" Unbelievable, but true, and even more unbelievable is that "Dapper" got reelected this November. A BIG lesson in voting and civic responsibility: Old South's membership alone can change results when there is a poor turnout and counselors are within hundreds of votes of each other. Eight people ran for four city-wide counselor slots and Dapper came in third. Let's not let it happen again in November of 1999.

We are moving forward with plans for more rooms, which will mean another hearing eventually, but the neighborhood is warming up to the idea of a Bed and Breakfast and some in opposition have even called to see if relatives could stay for weddings. Hallelujah! Miracles still happen. Please stop by if you're in the neighborhood near Jamaica Pond! +