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Members in the News
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Inn at Woodward Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma - 2008
Room with a view
By KIM BROWN World Scene Writer
12/29/2007
Couple restore 1920 home into
Woodward Park bed-and-breakfast
It has been about a year since
Mark and Janet Mobbs’ lives transformed
from 9-to-5ers to innkeepers.
But if you ask the Tulsa couple,
who restored a home built in 1920 into
the Inn at Woodward Park, they’ll say
it was much longer than that.
“It took almost three years to
renovate, and we did most of it
ourselves,” Mark Mobbs said.
The result was a bed-and-breakfast
at 1521 E. 21st St. with a perfect view
looking south onto Woodward Park.
With three guest rooms, a sun
room and plenty of common areas,
the Inn at Woodward Park has
become the Mobbses’ new home
and a second career for both. Mark
Mobbs spent years as an accountant,
and Janet Mobbs is a former
X-ray technician.
“We were looking for an investment
property and I saw this listed, and I
thought it was a very good price for
its location,” Janet Mobbs said. “But
when we looked at it we saw why. It
had water damage, and squirrels were
living upstairs. It was really sad.”
The house’s poor condition
initially kept them away, but a few
months later, Janet Mobbs saw the
house listed as a tear-down property.
After looking at it again, this
time
with an architect, they realized
the house was solid and just needed
a “little bit” of reconstructive work.
That little turned into a lot, and
after restoring the entire house,
they opened their doors last year.
They transformed an old sleeping
porch with a knockout view into
a sun room full of cozy sofas for
reading or relaxing.
The three guest bedrooms range
from a snug bedroom suited for
business travelers to a honeymoon
suite with a Jacuzzi tub. To use
every inch of the space, they have
turned many of the closets into
showers or full bathrooms.
Janet Mobbs said they kept the
1920s feel throughout the home
with its deco r, which is most
evident in what they call the Hollywood
Room — a guest room fitted
in cool blue accented with brown
velvet and other luxurious textiles.
“We really wanted to keep that
1920s feel because that was when
Tulsa was in its heyday,” she said.
Since opening the bed and breakfast,
the couple have met travelers
from Oklahoma and its surrounding
states and even the world.
“We’ve had people from Sweden,
Australia, Russia, Israel, the West Indies
and Canada,” Mark Mobbs said.
“I think I’ve gotten such a good
education from the people from the
other countries. I’ve never been out
of the U.S.,” Janet Mobbs said.
Most guests enjoy the inn’s close
proximity to Utica Square or St. John
Medical Center, and many others are
involved in weddings in the area.
“Our busiest time last year was
the change of seasons — April and
October. If you want to stay when the
azaleas at Woodward Park are blooming,
you’d better make reservations
now,” Janet Mobbs said, laughing.
They’ve even had a brush with
fame, when a person recently called
from the “Rachael Ray Show.”
“I thought it was a joke. I said, ‘Really,
who is this?’ ” Janet Mobbs said.
The show needed a place to film
an interview, and the representative
found the Inn at Woodward Park
from its Web site. But the Mobbs
are being kept in suspense, for
they weren’t told the identity of the
guest or the air date of the show.
“Rachael Ray did send us an
autographed photo,” Janet Mobbs
said.
For more information about the
Inn at Woodward Park, call 712-
9770 or visit www.tulsaworld.com/
innatwoodwardpark.
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