Born To Cook

Magen Desnoyers and her husband, Jeremy Desnoyers, are the proud owners of Magpie Inn, the only bed-and-breakfast in Mineral Wells, Texas, and their journey has been one of meticulous planning - and some good luck, too

Magen Desnoyers grew up coming to Mineral Wells to visit her grandmother, “Nana ” She learned to cook sitting on her grandmother’s counter watching and helping, and knew she wanted to be a chef at an early age Magen Desnoyers’s nickname in turn was “Magpie,” and thus begat the name of the quaint B&B located in the heart of Mineral Wells.

The Desnoyers lived in Saginaw, Texas, and while they were always interested in running their own B&B, they just weren’t sure how to get started Magen Desnoyers started calling around to B&Bs in Fort Worth to volunteer and learn more about the industry, which eventually led to a yearlong internship at the Texas White House in Fort Worth.

The opportunity turned into a fulltime position, and the couple eventually moved onto the property to see if they could work together The two of them ran the B&B during the day, with Magen Desnoyers attending culinary school at night because it was her dream to have a chef-owned property.

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After attending a national B&B convention, the Desnoyers got an offer to run a 26-acre property with 18 rentable spaces in Fredericksburg, Texas. The owners of the property livedinSwitzerlandandspentasummertrainingthecouple beforereturningbackhome.

Jeremy Desnoyers handled the landscaping and maintenancedutiesatthepropertywhilehiswifefine-tuned her skills, but they eventually grew homesick and wanted to returntoNorthTexastobeclosertofamily.

AfterreturningtotheDallas-FortWortharea,theDesnoyers began exploring locations to open their own B&B Magen Desnoyers kept a spreadsheet on potential places that featured local attractions and festivals in places where a B&Bmightbesuccessful.MineralWellsbegantocheckalot of those boxes on her spreadsheet, but the problem was findingtherightproperty.

“It had to be turnkey,” without a lot of construction, Magen Desnoyerssaid,because“wewereyoungandpoor.”

Thecoupleeventuallyfoundtherightlocation,butitwasn’t on the market, so they approached the owner, Mark Rawlings,abouttheiridea

Rawlings, the general contractor for the Baker Hotel renovation,wasusingthehometheDesnoyersenvisionedas their B&B venture as a place to board his employees, who wereworkingontheBakerHotelproject

Rawlings proved to be instrumental in the young couple purchasingtheirB&B,andinAugust2020theywereableto closeontheproperty,whichcamefullyfurnished.

The couple said their family thought they were “nuts” to open their B&B in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, but within a month the Desnoyers had booked their first guests They soon discovered that folks from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex had been cooped up at home for six months,andMagpieInnwastheperfectsmall-townretreat JeremyDesnoyerslandedajobattheCrazyWaterbottling facility,thentookhislunchbreaksaround9am sohecould be at the inn to help serve breakfast, and the Crazy Water ownerswereverysupportiveofhisoddschedule

These days, though, the couple works full time at Magpie Inn.MagenDesnoyersisthe“visionary,”whileherhusbandis the“realist,”andtogethertheymakeagoodteam

Magpie Inn is a five-room B&B, and all the rooms are private with their own restroom. The structure, built in 1907 as a boardinghouse, is one of two historic boardinghouses still standing in the community. These boardinghouses played a key role during Mineral Wells’ booming wellness industry of the early 1900s, and many of the home’s original features are still visible A property that’s over a century old needsconstantupkeep,butfortheDesnoyersit’salaborof love

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ArecentmorningfoundtheDesnoyerspreparingbreakfast for a mother and daughter visiting from McKinney and The Colony Stephanie Kelly and her daughter Lizzie Butler had read about the Crazy Water history in Mineral Wells, and Kelly described their stay as “wonderful from the minute we gotthere”

ItwasButler’sfirsttimetostayataB&B,andshesaidshe’s now “obsessed”withtheexperience Bothwomendescribed MagpieInnas“supercute”andsaidthey“immediatelywent into relaxation mode” The staff members at the inn were very personable, they said, and helped set up everything at theCrazyWaterSpafortheirvisit

The breakfast that morning was one of Magen Desnoyer’s specialties: A roasted pear for the starter and the main course was maple Dijon bacon served along side Chef Magen’slemonblueberryDutchbaby.

Magen Desnoyers said she uses local sources for her breakfast presentation when she can For the meal she served her two guests, the bacon was from Kennedy’s SausageCo,whiletheflowerscamefromTheFlowerShop at76067–andthewaterwasallCrazyWater.

MagenDesnoyerssaidsheoccasionallywillhaveguestssay they don’t want anything fancy, to which she noted: “Unless theyhaveadietaryrestriction,it’sgoingtobefancy,it’sjust who I am I don’t do casseroles Everything is made from scratchandservedindividually.”

Magen Desnoyers also has become a leader in the revitalization efforts in Mineral Wells As Mineral Wells transitions backtothe"wellnesscapital"ofTexas, shesaid she felt the need for a communitywide effort to raise the customerservicestandardsinthecommunity.

Tothatend,sheteamedupwithRoseJordanattheMineral WellsAreaChamberofCommerceandNikkiElmsofMineral Wells State Park. Together, they have devised a curriculum they are rolling out to other service businesses in the area The curriculum is You’re Wellcome Hospitality Training (note - Wellcome is a play on Mineral Wells), and you can sign up through Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce. All three women are also working on a certification for area employeesapplyingforjobs,andthey’reevenincludingitin thelocalhighschool

MagenDesnoyershasbecomeanactivecivicleaderatthe statelevel,too.SheservesontheboardoftheTexasBed& Breakfast Association and helps plan its annual convention, and it’s her culinary experience that helps set Magpie Inn apartfromothers Shealsoteachescookingclassesmonthly at Coffee and Cocktails in Mineral Wells and can be hired asaprivatechef,too.

TheDesnoyershadavisionandplanthattookthembackto where Magen Desnoyers’s culinary skills took root. Magpie Inn is located just two blocks from her grandmother’s house where she learned to cook – and, as she tells it, she may have learned her techniques at culinary school, but she learnedtocookfromherNana.

Magpie Inn, located less than 30 minutes from Possum Kingdom Lake, is a unique way to take in Palo Pinto County andthelake.Itoffersaquaintlocationwithup-and-coming attractionsandshoppingfortouristsandlocalsalike End of story.