Nov. 25, 2004 – Estate Lindholm, a gracious bed and breakfast, sits amid lush foliage overlooking Cruz Bay on the North Shore Road.
Opened in 1999, it's owned by Lauren and J. Brion Morrisette on property first developed by his parents, Sarah and Ron Morrisette. Brion Morrisette, 47, grew up there, and paving stones imbedded with his youthful footprints and those of his brother, also named Ron, still dot the property.
Sarah Morrisette, who now lives in Yazoo City, Miss., was a legendary St. John hostess, a legacy she's passed on to her daughter-in-law.
"Everything comes naturally. I'm a people person," Lauren Morrisette, 39, said, as she took a break from washing dishes.
The kitchen sits next to a gracious patio where Lauren Morrisette serves breakfast to her guests. While the 10 guest suites are located in newer buildings connected by rambling stone stairs, the reception area was built on ruins that date to the early 1700s. The property takes its name from the Lind family, who owned the property in the late 1700s.
When Brion Morrisette's parents arrived in the 1950s, they built a small house on the ruins. They later built the "big" house next door, where Sarah Morrisette threw her legendary parties. It is now home to Asolare Restaurant.
His father, who died in 1970, along with the late Victor Sewer and the late Theovald Moorehead, went on to form St. John Development Corp. The company operated the island's first scheduled ferry service and a general store where the Clarice Annex Thomas now sits.
This generation of Morrisettes is also making a name for itself. Brion Morrisette, an attorney with an office at Estate Lindholm, serves on the St. John Coastal Zone Management Committee.
Lauren Morrisette arrived on St. John in the late 1980s to stay with her father, "Honda" Bob Zdenek. Her father moved back to the mainland years ago, but Lauren Morrisette stayed with her son, Tim Ressegiue, now 19. The couple has two daughters, Nicole, 10, and Savanna, 8.
Lauren Morrisette finds that running a bed and breakfast is a perfect way to combine work with family life.
"It's often homework, dinner and then the dock," she said, noting that she meets all her guests at the Cruz Bay ferry dock.
She said her guests are independent sorts who want a comfortable bed, a hot shower and a place to socialize with other guests.
"They don't need the concierge service, but I help with boat trips and car rentals," Lauren Morrisette said.
While running a bed and breakfast is a 24-hour-a-day business, the Morrisettes find time to get away thanks to help from former guests Chris and Nancy Adamo, who visited several years ago. The Adamos step in to run the operation so the Morrisettes get a break. In fact, they're off for a skiing vacation in March to Aspen, Colo.
The Morrisettes run the business with the help of one full-time all-around person, Vernelle Christopher, a weekend helper and a gardener who comes three days a week to keep all that lovely foliage in shape.
Rates run $290 to $340 a night in the winter season. If you'd like to stay at Estate Lindholm, call 776-6121 or visit their Web site at www.estatelindholm.com.