{"id":116474,"date":"2025-08-03T20:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T20:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/116474\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T20:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T20:39:11","slug":"made-in-tarrant-fort-worth-educator-moonlights-as-fairmount-innkeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/116474\/","title":{"rendered":"Made in Tarrant: Fort Worth educator moonlights as Fairmount innkeeper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit your business here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kelly Bowden works in special education by day, but she is an innkeeper by night \u2014 and by morning, too.<\/p>\n

Bowden opened her three-room bed and breakfast, the Rosen House Inn, in December 2011. She welcomes guests from around the world as well as Fort Worthians looking for an escape close to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love when people have breakfast at the table and find out they have something in common with somebody else they didn\u2019t even know, from across the world, from across the states, to across just the state of Texas,\u201d Bowden said.<\/p>\n

Originally from New York, Bowden has found a home in the Fairmount Historic District. Her inn is located in a light yellow house with a wraparound porch.<\/p>\n

She spoke with reporter McKinnon Rice about her dream come true.<\/p>\n

The interview has been edited for clarity and space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contact information:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website: <\/strong>rosenhouseinn.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/strong>: facebook.com\/rosenhousebb<\/a><\/p>\n

Phone: <\/strong>888-791-4850<\/p>\n

Email: <\/strong>kbowden@rosenhouseinn.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> 1714 S. Henderson St., Fort Worth, Texas 76110\u00a0<\/p>\n

McKinnon Rice:<\/strong> Can you tell me about your business and how it got started?<\/p>\n

Kelly Bowden:<\/strong> All it takes is a dream first, right? I always wanted to own a bed and breakfast \u2014 here I am. When I was growing up, I actually helped at my neighbor\u2019s bed and breakfast in upstate New York before I moved to Texas, and I\u2019ve now been here 27 years. I love my neighborhood, and that\u2019s the Fairmount Historic District. I was lucky enough to find a house that fit that bill right here in Fairmount. That\u2019s how we got going.<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>How many rooms does the bed and breakfast have?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>We have three rooms online that you can see, and all of which have king beds in them because I found out that was very important to customers over time. I started with one king bed and then I had two queen rooms. Everybody was like, \u201cWell, we want the king bed.\u201d I was like, I think we\u2019re changing beds.<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>Where are your guests typically from?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>All over. Currently, we just hosted some guests from Belgium. We get a lot of guests from England. There was some big article about Fort Worth a while ago, and so, we were talking to them, and they were like, \u201cDid you see the article in London last year where they talked about how great Fort Worth was, and it\u2019s better than Austin?\u201d Well, a lot of British guests this year. It\u2019s been fun. And then, of course, local people getting away. It\u2019s your anniversary, it\u2019s a birthday, that kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"The inn is coated in trinkets and curiosities. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer in all the crazy stuff,\u201d Bowden said. \u201cWhy not enjoy it all?\u201d (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

The inn is coated in trinkets and curiosities. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer in all the crazy stuff,\u201d Bowden said. \u201cWhy not enjoy it all?\u201d (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>What are some of the challenges that come with running a business like yours?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>First of all, I will tell you, I\u2019m blessed with great staff, so staffing is never a problem for me. Challenges are people sometimes with reading policies, but that\u2019s with any business and with any job, in my opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>What\u2019s your favorite part of running your business?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>Meeting people from all walks of life. I love when people have breakfast at the table and find out they have something in common with somebody else they didn\u2019t even know, from across the world, from across the states, to across just the state of Texas.<\/p>\n

I love meeting people all the time. It\u2019s my favorite. And I love that people can appreciate all the antiques that I have, because I have a lot of old stuff. Not everybody does!<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>I read something about a 6-foot pot rack on your website. Can you tell me more about that?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>I can! The kitchen has a pot rack that used to be in the Worth Hotel before it was torn down. It\u2019s been there ever since. It\u2019s pretty awesome. It\u2019s a big \u2019un.<\/p>\n

\"\"The pot rack hangs in the kitchen Aug. 1, 2025. The inn is not just Bowden\u2019s business \u2014 it is also her home. (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>I also understand the house has survived two fires?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>Far as I know. That\u2019s what I got on the history of the house. The last one was in 1985.<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>What do you anticipate for the future of your business?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>I\u2019m going to keep doing this \u2014 because I also work full time as an educator, I work in special education \u2014 until I feel like I can\u2019t do two jobs, I guess. Or maybe when I retire, maybe spend more time just right here.<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>How do you balance the two?<\/p>\n

Bowden:<\/strong> First of all, I\u2019m an early riser, which works out great for a bed and breakfast, in case you didn\u2019t know. [laughs] And like I said, I have three great people who work with me, and I leave what I like to call my bed-and-breakfast lesson plans out for them each morning.<\/p>\n

Rice: <\/strong>Is there anything else about your business I haven\u2019t asked you that you think is important for people to know?<\/p>\n

Bowden: <\/strong>I would love people to know that we\u2019re only one of three bed and breakfasts left in the city of Fort Worth, and we have two other B&Bs who we absolutely love people to go to as well. I know one of them more than the other, but I think it\u2019s important to know that bed and breakfasts are still around, and they\u2019re a great option.<\/p>\n

McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n

Republish This Story<\/p>\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/p>\n

Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: Made in Tarrant is an occasional Q&A series on small businesses started in Tarrant County. Submit…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,72909,7371,7372,8011,7375,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-116474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fairmount-national-historic-district","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-made-in-tarrant","13":"tag-tarrant-county","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114966768057400692","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}