Historic charm, contemporary comfort, natural calm

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

August 4, 2025

WAUPACA – Looking for a slower pace of life – a polar opposite of their lives in the Chicago suburbs – Becky Fletcher said she and her husband, Rob, became the proud owners of the Apple Tree Lane Bed & Breakfast in Waupaca, armed with big plans and a dream.

“We moved up here, coming up on four years ago,” Becky Fletcher said. “We are native to the Chicago suburbs, but my husband and I love the country, and we were just looking to get out of the craziness of living in the suburbs.”

After raising their six children, Fletcher said she and Rob decided to pursue their long-time retirement dream of owning a bed and breakfast.

So, in 2021, Fletcher said she, Rob, their daughter Allison and her husband, Kyle, joined forces to buy and operate the Apple Tree Lane property and business – located at E3192 Apple Tree Lane in Waupaca.

However, after Allison and Kyle had their first child, Fletcher said the work became a bit unmanageable for the new parents.

“[Allison] found out that trying to handle a baby and run a bed and breakfast was difficult when you’ve been up all night – with a crying baby – and then you have to make breakfast, go out and face people,” she said. “So, they ended up moving.”

Her daughter’s move, Fletcher said, prompted her and Rob to list the Apple Tree Bed & Breakfast property for sale.

“It’s actually been up for sale for a year,” she said. 

However, Fletcher said that doesn’t mean her and Rob’s time in the Northwoods is done.

“We love the slower piece of life, we’ve gotten very plugged in with the people and we have a church that we love,” she said. “We’ve talked about, ‘okay, if the B&B sells, do we move?’ And right now the answer is no – we love it up here.”

Though they “still enjoy” operating the bed and breakfast, Fletcher said she’s not yet ready to leave her current remote job – making the retirement project a bit hard to manage without the help of Allison.

“With [our] two families running it, it was perfect – but now, with them gone, it’s just a lot,” she said. “It was [meant to be] a retirement [project], but I’m not quite ready to retire yet.”

Historic property

Apple Tree Lane (according to its website, appletreelanebb.com) is a seven-and-a-half-acre property featuring a “historic, Victorian farmhouse” – which Fletcher said previous owners, Mike and Kerri Thiel, renovated into the bed and breakfast it stands as today.

“The history is that it was built in 1882 – so it is one of those very old, beautiful, high-ceiling houses – and for many years, it was an apple tree farm,” she said.

The website also states that it was one of the largest apple orchards in the region before one of its former owners shut it down.

“[It] had a lot of trees, [which the previous owners] harvested and sold,” she said. “You can still see some of the trees in the area, but we only have seven-and-a-half acres with our property now.”

However, Fletcher said a relic of the land’s time as an orchard remains on that acreage.

“We do have one tree that’s [more than] 100 years old, so that’s fun,” she said.

That tree, according to Apple Tree Lane’s website, is locally known as the Wolf River Apple Tree, and though it’s “damaged from wind and storms, it still produces huge apples.”

Another natural amenity for guests to enjoy, Fletcher said, is the property’s private water frontage.

“Our seven and a half acres include 400 feet of waterfront on the Crystal River itself, and when you walk down to the river, it is extremely private,” she said. “There are so many trees that you don’t even know we have any neighbors at all.”

Where guests can expect company, Fletcher said, are in the bed and breakfast’s common areas – which, per the website, include the dining room, parlor and study, as well as several outdoor seating areas under covered porches and in gardens.

Old-fashioned + modern

After she and Rob purchased the property in 2021, Fletcher said Allison and Kyle moved up from Kentucky to help them run and slightly update Apple Tree Lane.

Together, Fletcher said Rob – who previously owned and managed three apartment buildings in Chicago, as well as his own handyman and remodeling business – and Allison – who is “very gifted at interior design” – went room by room giving the property a fresh look, “especially the common areas.”

“Allison did a good mix of old-fashioned and modern,” she said.

Three suites and two rooms, each with their own private bathroom, Fletcher said, are available for guests to book at Apple Tree Lane.

“[Kerri] is the one who converted it into a bed and breakfast, and she added enough bathrooms so each guest room had its own,” she said.

Bathrooms weren’t the only thing Fletcher said the Theils brought to the property, as their work has resulted in the business receiving a continuous No.1 ranking on the popular travel website, Tripadvisor.

“[When] we bought it from [Kerri and Mike], it was already the No.1 Bed and Breakfast in the area on Tripadvisor – it was doing very well,” she said. “[Kerri] did a couple of weeks of training with us, and then just let us go.”

Purchasing an already thriving business, Fletcher said, allowed her and Rob to enjoy themselves as they worked the property into their way of life.

“It was quite an experience, jumping into a running business, but a lot of fun,” she said. “We enjoy the people who come, and getting to know them.”

Travelers from around the world, Fletcher said, have booked stays at Apple Tree Lane – either to attend local events like the Iola Car Show, or to simply experience the natural beauty and serenity of Wisconsin’s Northwoods.

“We had a couple from Israel come [who] originally had booked for four days, and they loved it so much, they extended and added on three more days,” she said. “Another was a couple from Scotland – [who] just seemed stressed when they arrived – [and we saw] them de-stress, learn how to relax and enjoy nature and the peacefulness of the area.”

Up to fate

Though a self-proclaimed introvert, Fletcher said her favorite aspect of running Apple Tree Lane is being able to interact with and pamper her guests.

“Life is very disconnected right now, and there are a lot of rude people out there,” she said. “[People like to] come where it’s peaceful, and you’re treated with kindness – and when people do have breakfast, we love to just spoil them.”

With the bed and breakfast property still up for sale, Fletcher said she and Rob are content letting the “apple” chips fall where they may regarding their continued ownership.

“There’s still a chance I might just retire [from my remote job], and we might do this full-time,” she said. “We haven’t sold it yet, [and] I enjoy both [my jobs], so we’re still on the fence about which way we’re going to fall.”

Fletcher said as long as they own it, it will remain the same Apple Tree Lane Bed & Breakfast its previous, current and future guests have and will come to know and love.

Visit Apple Tree Lane’s aforementioned website or social media pages to learn more.