PARKMAN, Ohio — Welcome to Parkman!
The crossroads of southeast Geauga County, it's the perfect place for a post office.
Or at least it was.
Joe Keough owns the property along with his wife, Dorrie. The brick building has endured over 170 snowbelt winters. It's been re-purposed into a bed and breakfast known as the Old Postal Cottage.
"This was always a gathering spot for the people that lived in Parkman and the surrounding communities," Keough explains.
Turning the post office of the past into something new wasn't easy.
"After the demolition, I was thinking 'what have I gotten myself into?' It was pretty much every day Dorrie and I were over here doing something, whether it was framing the windows or painting, putting the floor in or the ceiling," Keough recalls.
That ceiling, by the way, is made of tin. Joe salvaged five of the original white oak floor joists and repurposed them.
The cottage is a warm, cozy space with kitchen area, bed, and places to read or even watch a little TV (NATS opening cabinet). Plus, every old building has a mystery.
"When we tore the floor up, under the floor joists, we found a jawbone of a cow! Who knows how it got there?" exclaims Keough.
But it's still there, and still a mystery. One of many that hide between these bricks at the Old Postal Cottage.
"We have the personal satisfaction of one, saving a historic building. Two, provide something that people enjoy and that brings us a lot of joy," says Keough.