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Seasons at the Riter Mansion: A Cozy Winter Hideaway

When John Michaelson and his wife purchased the then-named Logan House Inn in January 2004, never once did they expect to be running a bed and breakfast. “We didn’t set out to do a bed and breakfast,” says Michaelson. “We wanted a nice location to do weddings and dinners and lunches and things associated with big groups.”

The mansion was built in 1898 by Benjamin Franklin Riter, a pharmacist who owned the Riter Brother’s Drugs retail stores in Utah and Idaho. Following Riter’s death in 1925, the mansion saw many tenants such as an engineering firm, additional residents and even a fraternity. “We have unique things like radiant heat—we have old style radiators,” says Michaelson. “It’s kind of reminiscent of the way the house was built back in the day. We haven’t commercialized a lot of the rooms. You feel like you’re coming into a home. It feels kind of homey and that’s what people like about it.”

Seasons at the Riter Mansion has a selection of rooms to choose from, such as the library room, decorated with shelves of hard-backed books, and the parlor room overlooking the veranda. Michaelson and his wife make the breakfasts fresh every morning. “We usually just check with guests to see if they have food allergies or if there is anything they don’t like. Over 12 years, we’ve seemed to be able to satisfy everyone,” says Michaelson. “One of our favorites is apple pancakes. It has a brown sugar syrup [made] from a family recipe. Everyone always wants the recipe and it’s a favorite.”

Located in downtown Logan, Seasons is near many restaurants and winter activities. According to Michaelson, the Bluebird restaurant is a guest favorite. The Logan area also has Beaver Mountain for skiing, Hardware Ranch for horse-drawn sleigh rides and Olsen Park for old-fashioned outdoor ice skating.

“You can expect a unique lodging experience,” Michaelson adds. “You get the charm of the old house and some of the old features of an original building instead of cookie-cutter rooms … One thing about our bed and breakfast is my wife and I do everything. We don’t have employees that don’t care. When you show up here, you are dealing with the owners all the time. We do everything with the care that any owner of any business would want any customer to expect. … People notice that we’re here and we’re the owners and we’re available to answer questions.”

Seasons at the Riter Mansion is located at 168 N. 100 East in Logan. Visit www.theritermansion.com for additional information.