Continued from Page 8
In the midst of a skilled labor shortage,
Djordje rolled up his sleeves to take the lead
on the restoration process. He’s become so
involved that the contractors he works along-
side sometimes didn’t even realize they are
deep in the dust and grime with the owner.
“Not only are we saving money by my
own sweat equity, but I’ve also learned a lot,”
said Djordje. “I’ve spent a lot of time on You-
tube. I don’t think this project would have
been possible 10 to 15 years ago.”
“Djordje has personally inspected every
square inch of this house,” added Trudy.
“From the crawl spaces underneath, all the
way to the attic. Pretty much every surface
that you look at has either been refinished,
repainted, sanded down, shined and just
everything pretty much is different.”
Digging into the bones of a house built
around the same time that houses were just
getting electricity is expected to yield some
surprises. Djordje joked that he hoped to
find some stashed gold, but he didn’t get that
lucky.
“There was some demolition in the
kitchen, where I was definitely hoping I’d
find something,” he said. “I found an old
tobacco pouch, probably from 1905 when
they originally the built the front house.”
“He found some of the original wallpaper
up by the front door and even though it’s all
torn up we still kind of want to preserve part
of it, just because it’s some of that original
history that you can’t get back,” said Trudy.
Preserving the old-fashioned charm is a
major priority for the couple, who received
assistance from Vintage Hardware in Astoria
to furnish the new rooms.
“Our guiding principals were that we
wanted it to feel really clean,” said Trudy.
“Because we’ve been to bed and breakfasts
where you feel the bedspread has been used
for the last 50 years. So we wanted all white
linens, everything can be bleached. Every-
thing that does have fabric on it feels clean.
You can sit down and touch the pillows and
everything.”
Djordje added that they worked to create
an aesthetic broad enough to appeal to a wide
range of groups.
“Some bed and breakfasts have dollies
and all that stuff,” he said. “I just wanted
— not a man cave, but I didn’t want it too
flowery.”
Djordje and Trudy Čitović stand in the newly remodeled Rosebriar kitchen space. They hope to
use the open design for small events.
Djordje Čitović prepares to knock down a
wall in the kitchen to open up the space.
An optimistic future
In the first few weeks of opening, the
new Rosebriar Mansion hasn’t had an empty
weekend.
Visitors have ranged from a group of male
friends who met for a weekend of golfing
and fantasy football, to families gathering for
weddings and funerals.
The Čitović’s have set up the rentable
hailey hoffman/The astorian
The Rosebriar Mansion in Astoria was
originally built in 1905.
part of the mansion to include seven bed-
rooms, each with a full bath, plus a large, pri-
vate living and dining space and outdoor area
Djordje Čitović uses a crow bar to remove
water-damaged walls in the Rosebriar.
hailey hoffman/The astorian
A finished Airbnb room with bunk beds inside the Rosebriar Mansion.
that will lodge up to 16 guests. They feel the
group lodging allows them to fill a critical
need in Astoria.
“The way Astoria is set up theres not
many options for multi-room lodging,” said
Djordje. “I think we’re unique in that if you
have a group of 10,12, or 15 people you can
all stay together in one property.”
The couple also lists the carriage house as
a private airbnb rental for up to four guests.
The carriage house includes a bedroom area
and common space. They are considering
opening up some of the rooms inside the
house for individual guests to fill a need for
lodging during the week.
The Čitovićs are toying with several other
options for the future. They hope to use the
space for a variety of small events with up
to 40 guests. Trudy is hopeful to eventually
team up with several local businesses to offer
wedding packages.
“I could see how this could be a one stop
shop,” she said.
Her desire to hold weddings in the space
may stem from her own family ties to the
mansion. Her father, former Mayor Wil-
lis Van Dusen, married her stepmother in the
back chapel at the Rosebriar Bed & Breakfast
in the 1990s.
She hopes to carry the positive reputation
and memories that people have of the Rose-
briar Bed & Breakfast into the future.
“They did a good job the first time when
they turned it into a bed and breakfast to keep
some of the character,” said Trudy. “And
that’s really our goal. Anytime there is char-
acter that can be brought back out, we want
to do that.”
Thursday, sepTember 9, 2021 // 9