OFF THE MAP: Entrepreneur renovating buildings in Chelsea

CHELSEA — Jodi Phillip has been busy this year.

The longtime co-owner of 2-Jo's Farm in Van Horne has been renovating several buildings in the small town of Chelsea in Tama County.

It all started when Phillip, who has hosted several murder mystery dinners at her farm, but always was 'at the mercy of the weather,' began looking for a place to convert into a bed-and-breakfast.

'I was driving around and I came across Chelsea. All I knew was that it flooded,' Phillip said.

She came upon the boarded-up former Hrabak Funeral Home, which closed in 2003, and eventually purchased from an investment company.

Phillip said there never has been water in the first floor of the funeral home. A native of Rochester, Minn., Phillip said she 'understands flooding' and wasn't deterred by the town's history of high water.

'You just know when water comes up, you've got to move up. It's just the way it is,' she said. 'Water won't scare me away. I'm a Norwegian.'

Phillip began work on the former funeral home in August 2013, and it opened for business as Periwinkle Place Manor Bed & Breakfast last January. Since then, she has hosted several murder mystery dinners there, and plans to hold a sold-out event there on New Year's Eve.

Phillip said she named the bed-and-breakfast 'Periwinkle' after a periwinkle casket that was found in the basement. She said every time they try to clean the exterior of the casket, it turns 'blood red.'

Although the bed-and-breakfast is open to the public and has hosted murder mysteries, work on the building continues. Phillip said the third floor will become three rooms, a parlor, and a half-bath.

This year, she also opened the Norwegian Gypsy Hostel Bed & Breakfast, or 'sister house,' which is around the corner from the Periwinkle. She said she bought the building because there wasn't enough room to sleep everyone at the Periwinkle, and it could be renovated quickly.

'Guests come from all over: Nebraska, Illinois, Hawaii, Germany, California. People who like murder mysteries are willing to go all over the place,' Phillip said.

Philipp has bought and renovated several other buildings in Chelsea over the past year, as well.

'I'm trying to save what I can,' Phillip said. 'Everything is a work in progress. It's a process, and we've done it all on our own dime,' Phillipp said family, friends, and volunteers have helped.

Last spring, Philipp purchased more buildings along Chelsea's Station Street and worked to get them open in time for the town's sesquicentennial celebration last summer.

Inside the former post office, she has opened The Cheshire Coffee Shop, done up in an Alice in Wonderland theme. Its motto is 'We're All Mad Here.' She said she reused several items she had purchased for a murder mystery dinner.

'I'm well-known for repurposing things. I don't throw anything away,' Phillip said. 'I just love to take garbage and make something out of it. I can't stand when people throw things away.'

The former bank was turned into The Mistletoe Market, which sells gifts and seasonal items.

Christmas is dear to her heart; she and her husband go around Eastern Iowa during the holidays portraying Santa and Mrs. Claus, own live reindeer, and have a charity called the Dear Santa program that gives gifts to those in need.

She also opened a candy shop and a boutique, and is working to turn another building into an antiques store.

'I'm a little cuckoo,' Phillip said. 'I must be to want to buy all these old buildings.'

The shops will reopen regularly in the spring. They also will be open Christmas Eve starting at 3 p.m. during a town celebration.

Philipp said she is interested in renovating other properties in Chelsea, such as old lumberyard and the first house ever built in town. She also wants to get other people to open businesses in town.

'I'm trying to get entrepreneurs to join in on my craziness,' she said.