When Tammy Luce was looking for a name for her new bed and breakfast as she remodeled her house into the business, she took her inspiration from the biblical Noah.

"It just occurred to me one day that it was like building an ark, a task so high over your head," Luce said.

The Brick Ark Inn opened its first room last weekend and is preparing to have all its rooms ready for the July 4 holiday weekend. The bed and breakfast offers the first overnight lodging in Albion since the days of the old inns decades ago.

Luce will continue to operate her other business, Luce Accounting Services, from the same location, splitting time between the two businesses. "The combination fits me because I'm a CPA, . but I also love hosting people. I love having people gathered at the table for a home-cooked meal," she said.

On the accounting end, Luce has 25 years' experience. She lost her job in March 2007 and, through prayer, came up with the idea to work for herself. "I'd always wanted to open a bed and breakfast. If I went back into corporate accounting, I may have lost the opportunity of a lifetime."

Luce served as her own general contractor for the remodeling project on her house, just north of the courthouse square and across Orange Street from St. Mark's Lutheran Church. There were a number of challenges associated with the project.

She decided to demolish her kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and storage area and rebuild. "We were without water, sewer, gas or electric for about three months during the winter of '07-'08," she said.

In July 2008, Luce was an adult counselor on a youth group trip in Canada. "I brought home a parasite," she said. "It's like having food poisoning for about eight months."

Through it all, she worked as she was able, with a hand in all aspects of the project as her 15-by-30-foot house became 30-by-30. "I have a new kitchen, handicapped bath, a laundry, an office, dining for the guests," she said. "Upstairs, there's a guest sitting room and three bedrooms and three bathrooms for the guests."

There's a downstairs guest room that's handicapped-accessible for those who have a hard time with stairs.

By being either the general contractor or "the grunt" on the projects, Luce saved several thousand dollars. Contractors who've looked a the work said she spent the money in the right places and that the work was good.

All rooms will be ready by the end of June, in time for the July 4 holiday weekend, Luce said. Each is unique, specially decorated, and none is a simple boxy square floor plan.

On the outside, the architectural high roof and gables of the old house have been brought across, with tall windows and archways inside and red oak and walnut trim and baseboards. Some antique hardware, such as porcelain doorknobs, is used in the house where appropriate.

Many cabinets and vanities in the house were made from a sugar maple tree that had to be removed to make room for required parking spaces. All the woodwork was done by Amish workers from Honeyville, Shipshewana and Topeka.

Home-cooked breakfasts will offer such items as homemade cinnamon rolls, raspberry streussel muffins, fresh fruit, pastries and, for the hearty eater, skillet breakfasts, Luce said.

The Brick Ark Inn also can be used as a gathering place for small groups of up to 25 people, with or without a meal, for business meetings or special occasions in a private, intimate setting, Luce said.

The house is also equipped for both wireless and plug-in Internet service.

Luce thanked many family members and friends for all their help over the months of the project, and also said she thanks the Lord.