Born To Cook
Story by Steve Nussbaum | Photos by Kim Nussbaum

Magen Desnoyers and her husband, Jeremy Desnoyers, are the proud owners of Magpie Inn, the only bed-and-breakfast in Mineral Wells, Texas, and their journey has been one of meticulous planning – and some good luck, too.

Magen Desnoyers grew up coming to Mineral Wells to visit her grandmother, “Nana.†She learned to cook sitting on her grandmother’s counter watching and helping, and knew she wanted to be a chef at an early age. Magen Desnoyers’s nickname in turn was “Magpie,†and thus begat the name of the quaint B&B located in the heart of Mineral Wells.

The Desnoyers lived in Saginaw, Texas, and while they were always interested in running their own B&B, they just weren’t sure how to get started. Magen Desnoyers started calling around to B&Bs in Fort Worth to volunteer and learn more about the industry, which eventually led to a yearlong internship at the Texas White House in Fort Worth.

The opportunity turned into a full-time position, and the couple eventually moved onto the property to see if they could work together. The two of them ran the B&B during the day, with Magen Desnoyers attending culinary school at night because it was her dream to have a chef-owned property. 

After attending a national B&B convention, the Desnoyers got an offer to run a 26-acre property with 18 rentable spaces in Fredericksburg, Texas. The owners of the property lived in Switzerland and spent a summer training the couple before returning back home.

Jeremy Desnoyers handled the landscaping and maintenance duties at the property while his wife fine-tuned her skills, but they eventually grew homesick and wanted to return to North Texas to be closer to family.

After returning to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Desnoyers began exploring locations to open their own B&B. Magen Desnoyers kept a spreadsheet on potential places that featured local attractions and festivals in places where a B&B might be successful. Mineral Wells began to check a lot of those boxes on her spreadsheet, but the problem was finding the right property.

“It had to be turnkey,†without a lot of construction, Magen Desnoyers said, because “we were young and poor.â€

The couple eventually found the right location, but it wasn’t on the market, so they approached the owner, Mark Rawlings, about their idea.

Rawlings, the general contractor for the Baker Hotel renovation, was using the home the Desnoyers envisioned as their B&B venture as a place to board his employees, who were working on the Baker Hotel project.

Rawlings proved to be instrumental in the young couple purchasing their B&B, and in August 2020 they were able to close on the property, which came fully furnished.

The couple said their family thought they were “nuts†to open their B&B in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, but within a month the Desnoyers had booked their first guests. They soon discovered that folks from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex had been cooped up at home for six months, and Magpie Inn was the perfect small-town retreat.

Jeremy Desnoyers landed a job at the Crazy Water bottling facility, then took his lunch breaks around 9 a.m. so he could be at the inn to help serve breakfast, and the Crazy Water owners were very supportive of his odd schedule.

These days, though, the couple works full time at Magpie Inn. Magen Desnoyers is the “visionary,†while her husband is the “realist,†and together they make a good team.

Magpie Inn is a five-room B&B, and all the rooms are private with their own restroom. The structure, built in 1907 as a boardinghouse, is one of two historic boardinghouses still standing in the community. These boardinghouses played a key role during Mineral Wells’ booming wellness industry of the early 1900s, and many of the home’s original features are still visible. A property that’s over a century old needs constant upkeep, but for the Desnoyers it’s a labor of love.

A recent morning found the Desnoyers preparing breakfast for a mother and daughter visiting from McKinney and The Colony. Stephanie Kelly and her daughter Lizzie Butler had read about the Crazy Water history in Mineral Wells, and Kelly described their stay as “wonderful from the minute we got there.â€

It was Butler’s first time to stay at a B&B, and she said she’s now “obsessed†with the experience. Both women described Magpie Inn as “super cute†and said they “immediately went into relaxation mode.†The staff members at the inn were very personable, they said, and helped set up everything at the Crazy Water Spa for their visit.

The breakfast that morning was one of Magen Desnoyer’s specialties: A roasted pear for the starter and the main course was maple Dijon bacon served along side Chef Magen’s lemon blueberry Dutch baby.

Magen Desnoyers said she uses local sources for her breakfast presentation when she can. For the meal she served her two guests, the bacon was from Kennedy’s Sausage Co., while the flowers came from The Flower Shop at 76067 – and the water was all Crazy Water.

Magen Desnoyers said she occasionally will have guests say they don’t want anything fancy, to which she noted: “Unless they have a dietary restriction, it’s going to be fancy, it’s just who I am. I don’t do casseroles. Everything is made from scratch and served individually.â€

Magen Desnoyers also has become a leader in the revitalization efforts in Mineral Wells. As Mineral Wells transitions back to the “wellness capital†of Texas, she said she felt the need for a communitywide effort to raise the customer service standards in the community.

To that end, she teamed up with Rose Jordan at the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce and Nikki Elms of Mineral Wells State Park. Together, they have devised a curriculum they are rolling out to other service businesses in the area. The curriculum is You’re Wellcome Hospitality Training (note – Wellcome is a play on Mineral Wells), and you can sign up through Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce.  All three women are also working on a certification for area employees applying for jobs, and they’re even including it in the local high school.

Magen Desnoyers has become an active civic leader at the state level, too. She serves on the board of the Texas Bed & Breakfast Association and helps plan its annual convention, and it’s her culinary experience that helps set Magpie Inn apart from others. She also teaches cooking classes monthly at Coffee and Cocktails in Mineral Wells and can be hired as a private chef, too.

The Desnoyers had a vision and plan that took them back to where Magen Desnoyers’s culinary skills took root. Magpie Inn is located just two blocks from her grandmother’s house where she learned to cook – and, as she tells it, she may have learned her techniques at culinary school, but she learned to cook from her Nana.

Magpie Inn, located less than 30 minutes from Possum Kingdom Lake, is a unique way to take in Palo Pinto County and the lake. It offers a quaint location with up-and-coming attractions and shopping for tourists and locals alike