The Squire Tarbox Inn is being transformed by two women from Houston. Lisa Dalton and Michelle Adams have been working at a feverish pitch since January to get the 1700s building and the 12 acres surrounding it ready for wedding parties, farm-to-table dinners, and other events this summer.

Most of the work being done is cosmetic, but those cosmetic upgrades are bringing some dramatic changes to the old Colonial inn on Westport Island.

The women have been friends for a long time. Dalton, an interior designer and contractor, has designed the interiors of four of Adams’ homes in Houston over a 20-year period. Adams recently retired after 35 years in the chemicals industry.

When Dalton was finishing up Adams’ last house, they started talking about a business partnership. Then came the flood in August 2017. Both of their homes flooded, and the women decided they didn’t want to start the partnership, at least in Houston, until the flood issues were cleaned up and resolved.

“Then Lisa said, ‘Well, what about Maine?’” Adams said.

Dalton had first come to Maine around six years ago, when her son, Clay, was finishing a hike of the Appalachian Trail. She and her husband Bill decided to come up to meet their son at the finish line. They rented a house in Bristol.

They came back the next year to look around for potential properties, and wound up in Boothbay Harbor, where they bought a 1920 log cabin in Sprucewold. Then they bought a cottage next door, and last year a house on Sea Street. The couple now owns several vacation rentals in the Boothbay area.

Dalton and Adams had begun to look at venue spaces to start a business. After one possible acquisition fell through last winter, Dalton started Googling historic properties in Maine.

Squire Tarbox Inn popped up. “I called Michelle and said I had good news, and bad news,” Dalton said. “The bad news is we terminated the contract last night. The good news is I found something else that I think may be better.”

The two flew up that day, three days before Christmas, walked through the snow around the property, and decided to buy it. They made an offer the next morning, gave owners Roni and Mario De Pietro 18 hours to get back to them, then flew back to Houston. On Christmas Eve, they received word their offer had been accepted.

They came back in January and started hiring contractors, and work began the third week of February. Since then, all the bathrooms have been entirely rebuilt and remodeled, wallpaper covering most of the walls has been stripped and walls and trim have been scraped, sanded and painted, and the entire interior has been, and is still being, transformed.

All the charm of the old restaurant-inn, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been retained, but the new, clean-lined modern, contemporary design and tastefully painted walls create a more upscale experience. Many of the walls are now adorned with contemporary art, making for a more curated look, and much of the antique furniture has been replaced with more modern pieces. Still, the inn feels welcoming and comfortable.

Dalton said their contractors have been a godsend. “So many nice people that we didn’t know before have bent over backward to help us. Middle son Blake and his girlfriend, Stephanie Barerra, put off starting graduate school to help. “They were here stripping wallpaper for six weeks,” Dawson said. “And they promised to stay and help for the next year.”

The business will continue to run as an inn, and former innkeeper Liz Miller will remain, but there won’t be a full-service restaurant this summer, as a full-time chef is not in the cards for this summer. There’s a good reason for that. “We want to make sure we get the right person,” Dalton said.

Next year we’ll have a new, exciting chef and a full-service restaurant,” Adams said. “The restaurant will be upscale, but very accessible.”

“It’s important to us to keep people coming this year, and we will be hosting special private events – weddings, family reunions, corporate events, music festivals, and private parties - throughout the summer.” Chefs and caterers can be brought in to use the fully operational kitchen for the events.

The ever popular “Pizza Night,” with pizzas cooked in an outside brick earthen oven, will continue this summer, on Mondays and Thursdays, and farm-to-table events will be scheduled throughout the summer and fall.

The first one is July 4. Chef Erin Miller of Urban Hearth in Cambridge will be preparing the farm-to-table meal for 100 people. Calling it an “experience in the woods,” the event, that will include an oyster tasting, will be held on the wide expanse of lawn behind the inn, barring inclement weather, in which case it will move to the rustic, newly restored barn. “It will be a beautiful meal,” Dalton said. Reservations are required for the event.

The barn was one of the drivers that solidified the decision to buy the property. They’ve had the second floor removed, making a wide-open airy space. A large deck overlooking pastures, hills and gardens will be added behind the barn.

A few pet goats are in a building next to the barn, and the women are getting a couple more soon.

We’re very excited about what we’re doing here,” Adams said. “We’re a couple of lifelong friends who came together to do this, our first venture, and we’re passionate about making it work. I think we have a special touch for this, and we’re open to other opportunities in the area.”

Their company is called LISMI Ventures. Call 882-7693 for more information, or to schedule an event at the inn.