Stafford's Bay View Inn

The inn is a historical building that has been around for over 120 years as part of the Bay View Association of the Methodist Church established in 1876.

[2] In 1886, John Wesly Howard built the Woodland Avenue House in the rapidly growing Methodist summer community of Bay View.

During the summer of 1960, Stafford met his future wife, Janice Johnson, who had been hired as a hostess in the dining room.

[3] Stafford, during the following winter of 1960, began to work at the Perry Hotel in Petoskey, Michigan as the new assistant manager.

[3] Being out of a job with no marriage location, Stafford and Janice devised a plan and soon bought the Bay View Inn, which had recently been put up for sale by Dr. Heath.