PORT GAMBLE — After the historic but dilapidated House 69 was rehabilitated last year, it was supposed to become just another home for rent in Port Gamble.

But following the project’s completion, the town’s owners and renovation coordinators decided the structure would make a great bed & breakfast — something that inspired Poulsbo residents Tracy Heeter and his cousin Linda Eastwood to take on Port Gamble’s latest business, The William Talbot Inn.

The home was originally constructed in Port Ludlow in 1903 during the height of thriving lumber mill operations in Puget Sound. It was shipped to Port Gamble after 1929 and had been occupied until the 1980s.

Then it sat empty and deteriorated until last year when town officials decided to clean up some of its older homes that had been ignored for years. House 69, being the oldest and most deteriorated, got the first facelift and now includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry room and a small foyer.

“We had such roots of Port Gamble that we wanted to see lodging again,” Heeter said, noting there has been a lack of visitor hospitality in Port Gamble since the Puget Hotel closed in 1963.

With the new business, Heeter and Eastwood decided add to the historical ambiance of the home and outfit the interior with as many antiques as possible, creating an “Old World” theme.

Aside from the modern appliances that were installed the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms, everything else is antique, down to the full sets of silverware, Depression glass and 100-year-old china in the kitchen and dining room.

There are enough dishes to “serve a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people with what is in the kitchen,” Heeter said.

The dining room has a table that can seat 12 and includes a buffet set and server, punch bowl sets, a 100-year-old coffee percolator and a turn of the century Japanese chocolate service set.

Each of the three bedrooms has a full set of furniture that averages out to be about 100 years old each. Each one is very unique, too, coming from England, Holland and Italy.

Heeter and Eastwood tried to arrange the furniture in a way so it was warm and welcoming, not old and musty, Heeter said. He believes the lace window and shower curtains, the bedroom furniture sets and the hanging tapestries create such an atmosphere.

There are also both modern and antique appliances for entertainment. While cable television is available in the living room, there is also a working wind-up Victrola phonograph, equipped with replacement needles and old records.

It took 13 months to find the furnishings, six months to get them to Port Gamble from all over the world and four months to put them all together, Heeter said.

Since May, the doors have been open to guests, who have taken advantage of the home’s view of the Admiralty Inlet, decor and quiet location.

The first customers said they were “tired of the rat race in Seattle and wanted a Cape Cod experience,” Heeter said. ‘Our own piece of New England in the Northwest.”

When guests rent a room, they are entitled to the use of the entire home, regardless if is being shared or not, Heeter explained.

Meals are decided by the guest — who can order a continental breakfast and sack lunch, head in to town for food, or get a five-star gourmet meal cooked by Heeter himself, who is a chef by trade.

“They can walk in here with a sack of groceries and they’re home,” Heeter said.

The primary factor he believes that makes the B&B stand out is its location.

A gazebo is located just out the back door, equipped with a fire pit and lawn furniture for those who want to enjoy the view of the water and listen to the incoming and outgoing tides, while the kids can hit the beach and go beachcombing via a private access trail.

Besides being a relaxing place to stay, Heeter said there is plenty to do, such as utilize the horseshoe set in the yard, play on the beach, have a pick up baseball game in the ball diamond across the street and visit the town’s various eclectic stores.

“Essentially, it’s the setting, the serenity and the location,” he said.