G'bye, Garage. Hello, Guest Cottage.
Backyard bucks: Creating a $75-a-night B&B on a $5,000 budget
By Mattie Brickman

(MONEY Magazine) – How to make a $5,000 renovation pay you about $600 a month? Ask Christine Mather Bothe of Perrysburg, Ohio, who converted a detached one-car garage added to her 1913 bungalow in the 1930s into a $75-a-night bed and breakfast dubbed "The Little Purple House." By hewing to the existing structure--and doing much of the work herself--she produced a garden getaway with loads of charm at little cost. Running a B&B in Perrysburg (a quaint river town outside Toledo that's also home to her artsy shop, Santa Fe Way) has proved to be a satisfying investment. Opened last year, the place already is booked most weekends, says Mather Bothe, who spends maybe $15 per guest on food, drinks and supplies. Flowers come from her garden in the summer. "The rest," she says, "is pure profit," and covers her property's $463 monthly mortgage payment.