GALENA, Ill. — Time and time again, Cass Gates is struck by the diversity of the faces that pass through her Galena residence.

Visitors at Belle Aire Mansion Guest House, the bed-and-breakfast that Cass operates with her husband, Steve, hail from places as far-flung as Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.

“I enjoy seeing the different faces and the different walks of life that come in,” Cass said. “It’s just fun to hear everybody’s stories and get to know them.”

The Gateses took ownership of Belle Aire — a loose French translation of “beautiful area” — in August 2024. They bought the property from former owners Jan and Lorraine Svec, who had operated the B&B for 37 years.

“They put us on the map,” Cass said. “We owe a lot to them.”

According to Steve, the home was first constructed as a two-story log cabin in 1835, with the kitchen, dining room and parlor added during a series of expansions in the 1850s and 1860s. The family’s garage is a former horse stable.

“A story we’ve heard is that (the family who lived here) was selling horses to the Union Army,” Steve said. “When you look at the rapid add-ons in the 1850s and 1860s, it makes sense, because there would have been a lot of money coming in, and once the (Civil) War stabilized, they started building.”

Breakfast is served from 8 to 10 a.m. daily in the large, airy dining room. Cass, the primary cook, rises by 6 a.m. to begin preparations.

Each day, the morning meal begins with some type of homemade bread, followed by fruit and one of several rotating main dishes. Among guests’ favorites are a farmer’s casserole with a hashbrown base, cinnamon roll French toast and omelets.

Coffee is available at an upstairs common area beginning at 6:15 a.m., and guests can enjoy a hot beverage and watch the sunrise on the second-story front patio. Fresh-baked cookies also are offered each day.

Later in the day, both the dining room and the nearby living room serve as gathering spaces for guests to chat and play board games.

The living room is stuffed with comfortable chairs and couches. A pillow in the corner of the living room reads, “God Bless the Whole World — No Exceptions,” and an array of small lighthouse figurines adorn the fireplace mantle.

There’s an old pipe organ and piano, and guests will sometimes play a tune on the latter.

“I love it,” Cass said. “There was one time I was cleaning dishes in the kitchen and I heard music playing. I came in (to the living room) and the guest said, ‘Is this OK?’ I said, ‘Yes, and I’m hoping you’ll do that every morning you’re here, because it makes the cleaning so much more enjoyable.’”

The B&B’s five upstairs rooms can accommodate about 12 people, although there is space in some rooms for an air mattress, which the Gateses do allow in the case of larger groups.

Each room has its own bathroom and a gas or electric fireplace, but otherwise offers unique decorations and features.

The large Blue Room features a king bed and a twin daybed, both of which are festooned with cheerfully patterned pillows and quilts in various shades of blue.

The nearby Canopy Suite includes a queen canopy bed and whirlpool tub and is decorated in shades of pink and cream.

The Garden Vue Suite, with a soft teal carpet, queen bed, whirlpool tub and small triangular balcony that gazes out toward the Galena Territory, is one of Cass’ favorite rooms.

“When the sun falls, it is one of the most breathtaking views when you peek out the window, with all the dips and the valleys and the fields,” she said.

A stained-glass window above the whirlpool was handmade by a neighbor, and a similar window in the nearby Victorian Room complements that room’s antique hardwood floors and carved wooden dresser.

The final room, Ruthie’s Room, is named for a former area resident who donated much of her old furniture to the bed and breakfast.

“It just so happens that I had a best friend I lost from cancer a year before we moved in, and her name was Ruth,” Cass said. “So the name had to stay.”

Ruthie’s Room is a favorite of Cass and Steve’s 7-year-old son, Kyrion, who loves how a small door that at first seems like a closet actually leads to the room’s “hidden” bathroom.

Kyrion and his twin sister, Maislynn, enjoy interacting with Belle Aire’s guests, whether that means spooking them in a good-natured game by knocking on the walls and pretending to be ghosts or hitching a ride in one of the guests’ fancy cars.

“I feel like the twins are mentioned in a lot of reviews and in the guest books upstairs,” Steve said, chuckling. “It’s really nice seeing people interact with them.”

In the brief time the Gateses have been at the helm of Belle Aire, they have seen several repeat visitors.

This included one couple whose stay at Belle Aire was their first-ever visit to a B&B. Two months later, they returned for their honeymoon.

“I feel like it’s a success if our guests leave and feel like they’ve found a home away from home,” Cass said. “That means we’ve done our job.”