Come sit on our porch!

In two weeks, Thurston House will mark another milestone – 18 years providing wonderful accommodations to guests from all around the world. So far we have enjoyed guests from 21 countries, every state and even 3 territories! It has been a wonderful place for us to live, and we hope that we have many more years here at  Thurston House in beautiful Maitland, Central Florida.

We have seen our guests, marry, divorce, die, move away, move back, visit family, celebrate life events, stay for business, retire, etc. It has been very interesting to be a part of their lives. Some guests have been staying with us for over 10 years now! We are blessed.

House before renovations - January 1990

We have seen Thurston House start out as an empty and unloved house, to be completely renovated becoming the “Gem of Maitland”. Even the guest rooms started out one way, but have been fine tuned much during that time. Rooms have  different size beds now, and colors have changed - green to gold, pink to ruby red and yellow to tan. We have evolved too, starting with phone reservations and brochures to now offering online reservations and printable brochure on our website. You can even find us on Twitter, FaceBook and Trip Advisor too! 

Keep tuned for Fall & Winter Specials!

Oranges

Central Florida was the capital of Florida citrus in the early years, especially around the time of the founding of Lake Maitland – 1885. This area lead the world in citrus production until several freezes devastated groves, pushing the citrus operations further south. Cyrus Brooks Thurston had a variety of citrus on his 160 acres of Maitland land.

Times have changed! What was once Cyrus Thurston’s 160 acre pride and joy, is now just 8 acres. His beautiful winter home still stands proud overlooking Lake Eulalia, but the many areas of groves are gone. Walking around the 8 acres you can note several old orange and tangerine trees, but a variety of oak and other trees dominate the landscape now.  We do have one orange tree that always give us lots of sweet fruit to make juice in early January.  There are also several tangerine trees left and from the looks of things we will have another bumper crop of these this January-February 2011.

Tangerines

Guests to Thurston House B&B early in the year are offered bags to fill with tangerines to enjoy at home. Book your room now for that time, and come experience a little bit of Central Florida citrus history.

Old Trane leaving the station...

BYE-BYE old, and HELLO new! After 19 years of service to us, our old Trane 5 ton a/c -heat pump system wore out. It kept going through tremedous heat times, and kept us warm during those few very cold times. Considering 12-15 years is usually the maximum life for these types of units here in Florida, we have done well.

New Trane arrives...

Our new unit is nice & shiny, and oh so quiet. Come stay at Thurston House B&B in Maitland and see for yourself! Summer Special rates are ending soon, 9/2, so hurry!!!   Energy Air Company in Orlando did a great job with the installation!

This amazing museum facility is only minutes from Thurston House. Add it to the list of must do’s when booking a room at our beautiful Central Florida Bed & Breakfast!

Full Sail University students

Full Sail University students

Exciting times here at Thurston House bed & breakfast in Maitland. This Central Florida inn has been a hotbed of activity for a couple days! The fabulous local college Full Sail University approached me about the idea of using us as a location for their last major film project before graduation. When I found out it was about a bed & breakfast, I was inn (in – ha-ha!).  It is a scary murder mystery called Murder at Lou’s Bed & Breakfast. There is lots of blood, screaming, and some scary characters.

the dead guy

The movie making process is fascinating for sure. Once all the filming is “in the can”, editing will make this an award winning film and will provide high marks for all these students. I can’t wait to see it, and also the video they have committed to do for my website. What fun!

Thurston House, Maitland, Florida

At Thurston House Bed & Breakfast in Central Florida, we are very fortunate to have a lot of natural covers, from meadow areas, closely packed bushes and lots of trees with dense leaves. Come see!

Lake Eulalia in Maitland, Florida

The 2nd step is providing water to wildlife. Thurston House is fortunate to  overlook beautiful Lake Eulalia, but we also have a bird bath and a shallow dish that both provide water.  If you have any of these things, or even a natural spring or stream on or near your property, you would certainly qualify!

Keep tuned for step #3!

Certified Wildlife Habitat sign at Thurston House

Maitland’s only bed & breakfast, Thurston House, has been certified as an  official Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation! Protecting wildlife can be easy & fun, and is good for the future of our world. This is the first blog about what it takes to be certified.

red berry shrub

The first step in this process is to start growing  plants that are native to your area. Be sure to include trees, shrubs and other plants that offer food such as pollen, nectar, acorns, nuts, cones, berries and other seeds. Exotic plants that are not native to your region can become invasive. This could make them harmful to both people and wildlife!

More to come….

Turtle from Lake Eulalia in Maitland

We often have turtles come out of Lake Eulalia  and trudge up to our Thurston House Bed & Breakfast yard to leave their eggs in a sandy and safe area. This one is perhaps the biggest I have ever seen! This all is part of why our yard has been designated a Certified Wildlife Habitat. To be certified as such, we are required to provide a quality habitat, including food, water, cover and places to raise their young. We are such a place, and it is truly amazing that we are located only 5 miles from downtown Orlando!

Lake Eulalia in Maitland

Telegraph Hill robes

Every time I wash one of our beautiful robes, I can’t help but think what a wonderful amenity they are for our guests to enjoy. They are of the finest quality, a taupe striped seersucker, and made by the Telegraph Hill Robe Company in San Francisco. They are of generous size, kimono styled and feather light, just the right type of robe for our warm weather here in the Maitland-Winter Park area of Central Florida. Book your room now and come try them out!