When Sylvia Sullivan enters the room, she comes bearing a piece of her famous peach French toast, a laugh, or a story told in her soothing Irish accent — but she never enters a room without something to share. Sullivan, owner of the Sylvia’s Irish Inn Bed and Breakfast, 312 W. Green Street in Urbana, keeps herself far too busy for that.
Between running a bed and breakfast, putting in twenty hours a week at her second job with American Greetings, and working in her friend Jan Chandler’s Heartland Gallery, Sullivan admits, “I’m one of those people that can’t sit and not do anything.”
Sullivan, 60, was born in Ireland and moved to the United States at eighteen, where she says she has achieved the American dream — and her dream — with her Irish inn, which she and husband Ernie Sullivan bought five years ago. Now her biggest worry as a small business owner in today’s economy is staying in business.
The hard work required to run an inn was ingrained in Sullivan as a young child. When her father died of a heart attack and her mother left a month later, eight-year-old Sullivan cared for her five siblings for six months. She fed her brothers and sisters with milk from their farm, as well as sugar and bread, which she promised the local storeowner her mother would promptly return to pay for. Police discovered their situation only when checking on why the children weren’t attending school, and the family was placed into the care of their aunt and uncle.
At eighteen, Sullivan located her mother in New York, and immigrated to the United States to be with her, but was quickly put back out on her own. Her mother arranged a marriage for her in which she unhappily remained for twenty years.
Despite her harsh past, Sullivan is now an optimistic, energetic and warm woman who uses stories to connect with her guests, many of whom are international travelers visiting the University of Illinois.
She tells the story of the Iranian man who once proposed to her, moving around and gesturing with her hands as she speaks. “He had traveled all over the world, so he said it was nice to come here because there are so many different nationalities and different classes of people here — all treated the same,” she said. Before he left, he told Sullivan he wished he could take her back to Iran as his second wife. After the proposal, she ran out of the room, embarrassed.
In fact, when Sullivan’s current husband, Ernie, proposed to her, she also told him no — twice. “He knew one month after we met that he was going to marry me,” she said. Sullivan says she and Ernie are good for each other and balance each other. “We’re like two little kids together,” she said.
Recent guests Don and Teri Lucchetti say that their favorite part of the stay was the charm and coziness of the inn. “It’s as comfortable as a pair of old blue jeans,” they wrote in Sullivan’s guest book.
Wendy Phillips, who has stayed at the inn with her husband Greg over a dozen times since they first stumbled upon it four years ago, was attracted by Sullivan’s welcoming demeanor. “It was like we were friends instantaneously,” she said.
The Phillips and other guests also enjoy the many attentive details of the Victorian-style inn, a local historic landmark. “You can tell there are a lot of pieces from different periods that they’ve collected over the years,” Don Lucchetti said.
Guests are greeted for Sunday breakfast with ornate china plates, for example, and a matching flowered tablecloth. Although Sullivan is best known for her peach French toast, a warm, casserole-like dish with the perfect balance of cinnamon and sweetness, as well as her baked eggs (“You can’t get these anywhere else,” she says), she also provides an assortment of made-from-scratch scones and muffins. She serves yogurt, fruit and Irish tea alongside. “I try to do everything as if you went to Ireland,” she says.
Sullivan’s daughter, Ann-Bridget, says her mother’s accomplishments are amazing, especially as an immigrant. “She’s worked very hard her whole life and she deserves to get her dream,” she said.
Sullivan and her husband still work hard with part-time jobs outside the inn to support themselves. “We’ve put every penny we own into this business,” Sullivan said. “My biggest worry is, ‘Will I be here next year?’ ” Nevertheless, she keeps an optimistic spirit.
Sullivan describes herself as a positive thinker. “I could sit back and say it’s everybody else’s fault,” she said of her tough past, “but at a certain age you can’t blame anyone. You make choices in life, and you can either feel sorry for yourself or you can make the best of it.”