Passionfish
Restaurateur s
Open Victorian
Vacation Rental
B Y L A R R Y H A R L A N D
I
t looks so easy on HGTV. A couple buys a
fixer-upper, they don matching hardhats,
swing a few sledgehammers and voila—the
house of their dreams appears.
Ted and Cindy Walter know the reality. In
December, the owners of Passionfish restaurant
in Pacific Grove purchased a neglected Queen
Anne Victorian in the Alexander Valley.
The plan? Open a vintage inn just a stone's
throw from the Russian River.
"We thought it would be a quick turn-
around," Cindy says. Instead it was a nightmare.
"Every time we started to fix something, it
was like peeling back layers of people not prop-
erly making repairs," she says.
Taking out another loan, they stripped the
1885 building down to its bones.
Finally it was reveal day. With floors restored
and walls painted, the downstairs ceiling col-
lapsed due to a hidden water leak.
"That was the hardest moment," Cindy says.
Partnering with their daughter and son-in-law
Megan and Ryan Glaab, owners of nearby Ryme
Cellars, the family persevered, and in August
opened Victorian on the Vineyard.
"It's definitely a family getaway, but we don't
have plans to move there," says Cindy, who
hopes locals will head north for a visit.
"It feels really good to finish it," she says.
"Especially after all we went through."
For more information or to book a stay, go to
www.victorianonthevineyard.com.
SHORTCUTS
NEIGHBORS
Ted and Cindy Walter, owners of Passionfish restaurant in Pacific Grove,
remodeled and opened a Victorian inn in Cloverdale in the Alexander Valley.
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