In July of 2005 Robert and Deborah Benada fell in love with the Crystal River Inn…
We began dreaming of working together full time in hospitality and in November 2006 our dream became a reality as we became the new owners & innkeepers of the Crystal River Inn. We delight in providing a warm and relaxed place for all to feel at home and among friends, a place fostering rest and refreshment of body, mind and spirit.
Over the summer we "trained" under Gene and Lois Sorenson who had turned the 1853 A.R. Potts farmstead into a bed and breakfast in1987 and so lovingly cared for this historic farm home so that many could enjoy its comfortable country charm. We now continue the same heart-felt hospitality that has been a hallmark of the Inn for nearly two decades.
A.R's son Andrew Robert II, first European American born child of Rural, lived his whole life in the village, and represented his county both in the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate in the early part of this century.
In 1955, the Potts farm was awarded the Century Farm Award by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture acknowledging 100 years of continuous farming by one family. Another 20 years were added to that number before A. R.'s grandson Truman Potts retired in 1975 marking the end of a era. Most outbuildings still stand as they did over a century ago. Now they function simply as the object for frame after frame of film as passersby stop on the Wisconsin Rustic Road #23 to record this vanishing American scene.
