BIG RAPIDS — What was once a dilapidated eyesore has become a showpiece family business on the Maple Street entrance to the downtown area.

A nearly $600,000 restoration/renovation project at the Comstock House, the large brick home at 414 Maple Street in Big Rapids, was completed in 2007.

The restored 111-year old home, complete with ornate mahogany woodwork, 15-inch tall baseboards and Eastlake architecture, offers meeting space and a bed-and-breakfast.

Jane Johansen, owner the Comstock House, did most of the woodwork restoration in the home. With nine-foot tall doorways, cleaning and restoring woodwork was no small challenge. She had to clean years of accumulated grime and debris off the molding before she could re-stain and polyurethane it, all by hand.

Six 30-yard dumpsters were filled with the accumulated garbage taken out of the house. All the lathe and plaster throughout the two-story structure was removed and replaced with drywall. The wiring, plumbing and heating and cooling systems also were replaced.

For information on booking an event or renting a room in the bed and breakfast, call (231) 796-4753.