Goodnight to a Landmark

 By Alanna Radle Rodriguez

Dr. Arthur and Edith Ruhl on the porch of their two-story house
and medical practice

Dr. Arthur Ruhl and his wife, Edith, of Edmond, Oklahoma, built a home at the corner of 1st and Normal (now called University), in 1908. In 1928, he jacked up the house about twelve feet and built a new first floor, which was the exact floor plan as the original first floor, then he settled the raised part of the house onto the new floor. He added sunrooms on the south and east, giving the house have eighty windows. Dr. Ruhl was the first automobile owner in Edmond, and he did the same thing to the garage. He painted the stucco house a yellow shade with a blush of peach, saying that the peach “gave it the radiance of an Oklahoma sunrise or sunset.”

Original arched doorway in renovations in 1989

Original arched doorway in May, 2016

After Edith’s death in 1979, the big yellow house sat vacant for years—years that caused much decay. But in 1989, it had a second chance for life. Martha and Gary Hall bought it with the intention of making the historic home a Bed and Breakfast. On a small, young family’s budget, they gutted the interior and slowly put it back together. They struggled to find a name that fit their dream. They settled on Arcadia, which means peaceful or pastoral: The Arcadian Inn Bed and Breakfast. Martha said, “It was a God thing.” Welcoming their first guests in September of 1990, they opened with five guest rooms, while the couple and their two young sons called the first floor and back of house home. They moved into the garage apartment in 1995. In 1996, they purchased the house directly west of the B&B and opened two new rooms, the Captain’s Quarters in July of 1996 and the Magnolia in November of 1997.

The Arcadian Inn Bed and Breakfast, May 2016

The Halls moved from the garage apartment to the neighboring house in 2000. Since many people thought the B&B was out by Lake Arcadia and were looking for a country getaway, the Halls began building honeymoon cottages on 80 acres of woods they already owned between Edmond and Guthrie. They called it Aaron’s Gate Country Getaways. By 2006, they had three cottages up and running. In 2008, the Halls made another move, but this time Gary and Martha moved to Aaron’s Gate, while their adult son, Mark, moved onto the property at the B&B with his family.

Prairie Gypsy Room, sliding door

While interviewing Martha, I asked what her favorite room was at the Arcadian. ”Do you have a favorite child?” she replied with a smile on her face. She went on to explain that it depends on the season. “Christmas is Remembrance, Crown Jewel for Valentine’s Day, late May-June is the Magnolia so you can enjoy the blooms on the Magnolia tree. I love Prairie Gypsy because it’s so vibrant and unique.”

The Crown Jewel Room

Next I asked, “What was your favorite time of year as a B&B owner and hostess?” She replied, “Christmas. Every room has a Christmas tree in it. The front parlor boasts a huge tree that we call the Angel Tree because it displays my angel ornament collection. For the fall and through the holidays, we serve Pumpkin pancakes with apples, pecans and brown sugar along with our ‘to die for’ Vanilla Butter Sauce. Happiness and love are in the air.”

I asked her, "What is your most boring time?"
“Hmmm…our slow times are when people have spent all their money and can’t do something extra, January—after Christmas, April—Tax time, the first week of school in the Fall—school clothes. Boring as an innkeeper? Waiting for 10 pm to get here. We considered that we were off duty and could get comfortable. We decided a long time ago to be available for our guests, to wait on them here at the Inn. Being available can be somewhat boring. We do love to wait on the guests, though, and pamper them.”

The Crown Jewel

After the first hard-learned lesson their first Christmas, they made sure to close on the 24^th at noon and open again at noon on the 26^th. Martha says this about winter and a getaway. “There is NO better place to be than at the Inn or in a cottage for a snow storm. Just too romantic.”—As for mixing being an innkeeper and bad weather,—“One Saturday night, we had a tornado bearing down on Edmond. I don’t do well with those. But the guests were all gathered on the front porch waiting for it to get to town. Someone was sharing a bottle of wine. Gary was inside following one of the local stations. The phone rang and it was another local station! They wanted to know what was happening at the Arcadian Inn. I said, ‘We are having a tornado watch party on the front porch.’ They asked, ‘Is the wind blowing hard?’ I answered matter of factly, ‘No, the front porch flag banners are blowing with a slight breeze,’ to which she frantically replied, ‘That’s the calm before the storm! Get everyone downstairs quickly!’ I went out to the porch and was just telling everyone what the lady from the station had said when Gary came out and gave us the all clear. The station he was listening to said the storm was now on the east side of I-35! It did a lot of damage in Piedmont and west Edmond but we saw nothing! Everyone was safe and had a good time.”

But as with any good story, there must come an end. May 31^st, 2016 marked the last day the historic Arcadian Inn B&B welcomed guests. Martha and Gary Hall are retiring after 25 years. The historic lot has been bought by the "Normal" school across the street, now known as University of Central Oklahoma. “Prairie Gypsy and the Crown Jewel will be the two rooms I’ll miss the most.” But have no fear. They are still keeping Aaron’s Gate, now calling it Arcadian Getaways.

Contact them at:

Arcadian Getaways

2600 East Camp Dr. Guthrie, OK 73044

www.arcadianGetaways.com – Phone: (405)201-1632

info@arcadianinn.com


Born and raised in the Edmond, OK area, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great, great, granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to help settle the area around what is now Seminole, Oklahoma. The fourth generation in a line of women in her family to be born in Indian Territory/Oklahoma, she has lived in her beloved state all her life. With her knowledge of surrounding area history, her heart relishes in volunteering at the Oklahoma Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. She lives with her husband and parents in the Edmond area, currently working on a historical romance set in pre-statehood Waterloo, Oklahoma.

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