INSIDE

Some yoga with that bed?

The new owners of Maple Meadows Bed & Breakfast plan subtle changes as they merge the old inn with their new business.

Desiree Kleemann and Tom Fijal are the owners of Madrona Yoga and acquired the local bed and breakfast in October from Terrie and Keith LaPorte who ran the business for 10 years. “It’s always been a dream, an old house on five acres, and there it was,” said Fijal, who works as a concert producer and event manager while Kleemann teaches yoga.

Fijal and Kleemann with their children, Zack and Ivy, will make their home in the historic farmhouse at the gateway to Maple Beach, and will welcome guests to the Pumphouse and Milk Parlor. While this means the two guest rooms in the house will no longer be available, guests at the renamed Maple Meadows Inn will have something new – yoga classes right next door.

“The yoga studio is really the biggest, most important change,” Fijal said. The property’s old garage is getting a facelift and emerging with a clean, serene, interior as a new space for Kleemann, an Ashtanga certified yoga instructor recently featured in Yoga Journal, to welcome both her local students and guests. The new studio will open November 3 and allow Kleemann to teach up to 18 students at a time, up from 10 in her previous studio, which opened in 2001.

By merging the yoga studio and the inn, the latter will acquire a new flavor, shifting from romantic hideout to relaxation haven. “For us it’s more a place to come and relax,” Kleemann said. “Healthy, simple and private.” Both the Pumphouse and the Milk Parlor, the first more Victorian and the latter more rustic, have separate seating areas where guests will be able to assemble their own “West coast continental breakfast,” including home-baked muffins and pastries, preserves, granola and fresh fruit. “It’s not bacon and eggs,” Kleemann said, “but it’s perfect for a little light nourishment before a stroll on the beach and a yoga class.”

Fijal said Maple Beach and the cottage community are some of the off-property amenities of their new business. On an early morning walk to the beach a block away he saw dozens of herons feeding on the tideflats as the sun came up over Mt. Baker. “It was not a typical walk,” he said. “It’s truly phenomenal.” Kleemann said in time they hope to improve the trails that run through the upland portion of the property to offer guests outdoor spaces to relax and enjoy the views over Maple Beach and Boundary Bay. “It’s a longer process but there are so many places to explore here,” she said.

Since moving i,n Kleemann said they’ve had guests every weekend, and if the studio had been finished Kleemann said they would have taken in a class. “It’s very exciting for me,” she said. “That’s the whole idea.”