The Edward - Galena, IL

12/02/2024

Welcome winter wonderland! The Edward has been blanketed in the first ❄️snowfall ❄️ of the season, turning it into a ✨magical ✨escape. Click the link in our bio to book your stay!

04/01/2024

We LOVE every opportunity we get to work with Basket Case Galena! We're always excited to see what hand-selected, local goodies they select for our guests.

This custom gift basket is ready to welcome the new guests at with local items from , , KBEE’S Dog Treats, , and .

04/01/2024

The Edward crew spent the last two weeks getting the house back in shape for our upcoming guests. Boy, did it take a village. Some repairs/changes we were a bit forced into making and other updates we were happy to make, like our brand-new sink, dishwasher, and area rug; a “new to us” reading chair and nightstand; and some hand-me-downs from our grandma’s. Plussss we got all of our rugs and couches steam-cleaned. 🤩 We couldn’t have done it without our reliable family/team.

Amber and her assistant spent 30 hours (yes, you read that right) between the two of them cleaning and getting the house ready for our arrival two weeks ago. Then she put in another 5 hours of cleaning upon our departure yesterday. Because of Amber, the house is back to being our home we love so much.

Larry “Otis,” Joe’s dad, is literally the handiest person we know. If it’s broken, dirty, creaking, or just needs a little TLC, he’s our guy.

Mitchell with Foley’s Lawn Care did several hauls of trash for us and cleaned up our entire yard twice during our two-week stay. It doesn’t matter the size of the project, Mitty always gets it done for us.

We can confidently say that we at The Edward would be absolutely lost without our trusted family/team. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

03/21/2024

A stay at The Edward just wouldn’t be complete without stopping at for some sweet + savory treats! Our personal favorites are the empanadas and the quiche. Pair your goodies with their delicious honey pistachio latte — thee best pistachio coffee drank we’ve tried to date.

02/28/2024

Spring is right around the corner! As the days grow longer and the flowers begin to bloom, come make The Edward your springtime escape and watch our one acre of property come alive over the next couple of months! We can’t wait to host you! 🌸 🌱

12/26/2023

Thank you to our always-reliable, local friend with for delivering Christmas goodies to our guests!

Book your stay at The Edward and you too can receive one of these fun baskets full of goodies!

06/23/2023

One 👏🏼 whole 👏🏼 year!

One whole year of hosting guests in our special home!
One whole year of being a part of the beautiful, historic Galena!
One whole year of learning alllll the quirks of a 130-year-old property!
One whole year of figuring out how to be property owners from across the country!
One whole year of change and growth and learning and rolling with the punches!
One whole year of The Edward!

05/01/2023

Stepping into The Edward is truly a magical experience for the three of us owners. Each time, we instantly feel a sense of awe, comfort, and peace.

We’re thrilled when our guests have those same feelings during their stay. I’d say our last guest summed up The Edward pretty dang well in this illustrative review she left us.

02/17/2023

Another top floor pre(view) before you come and check it out for yourself. 😏

Our 2023 calendar is wide open! Book your stay today!

www.airbnb.com/h/theedward

02/09/2023

Ya wanna know our favorite thing about Galena, Illinois? Hands down, it’s the people.

Within our first week of owning The Edward, Sue from the City came to our house (IN PERSON) to introduce herself, give us the trash and recycle calendars, and help us better understand the way our City bill would work.

We walked into Galena Bakehouse for some delicious goodies, and we were instantly greeted by Alex joyously saying, “It’s The Edward crew!”

While visiting in December, we decided to venture down to Main Street right before Christmas (ya know, during one of those -30 degree days 🥶). We shut off our vehicle for 10 minutes, and it wouldn’t start back up. The generous folks at the DeSoto House Hotel lent us (complete strangers to them) their jumper cables. When that wouldn’t turn our battery over, Mitchell with Foley’s Lawn Care drove down within minutes to give us a ride back up the hill to The Edward so we wouldn’t freeze to death and then proceeded to plow our driveway for us.

The first weekend we were in town closing on The Edward, we stopped into Jamie's Wine Studio Galena for one of her delicious Bloody Marys and met Jaime, Luanne, and Teddy, who instantly made us feel at home.

We walked into At Home In Galena and met the owner, Mr. Murphy, who stopped what he was doing to chat with us for I don’t know how long.

Christine Melaas with Basket Case Gift Baskets has fixed us up multiple beautiful baskets and delivered them to The Edward for us with less than 24 hours’ notice.

Amber Foley has flexibly worked with our ever-changing schedule to tidy up the house when we’ve had a last-minute booking.

It took a village of locals at Galena's Living History Alliance to research The Edward and get the plaque in this picture made, delivered, and installed.

Kathy with Galena Homes Do Tell Stories then did a nine-story (NINE!) feature on her page about The Edward.

Honestly, we could go on and on and on and onnnn about the generous, kind, and selfless folks who call Galena “Home.” We’re forever grateful to have an excuse to keep us coming back to Galena. Sure, we live out of the state now, but we are honored to say the Midwest will always be our [home].

01/31/2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Boy, January sure flew by; amiright?

We have heard you! We see your interest in staying at The Edward! We recognize the difficulty with having to host guests for 30+days (we get it; most people can’t just take off work for a full 30 days to come visit the beautiful Galena).
. . sooooo . . .

We’ve drastically LOWERED our rates with the hopes that more of you can come experience the magic and history The Edward has to offer, even if you can only make it your weekend hub. Book your stay for a month; stay as often as you can; come and go as you please. We can’t wait to host YOU 🫵🏼!

01/12/2023

Plan on traveling to Galena multiple weekends this winter to use your season pass at ?

Book your month-long stay at The Edward and have a place to call home every time you visit!

Message us directly to inquire about our incredible 30-day discounts!

12/26/2022

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and all the other fun winter festivities from all of us at The Edward!

12/22/2022

It may be cold outside, but it sure is warm in here at The Edward. Grab a cup of coffee and cozy up next to one of our three wood-burning fireplaces.

Our calendar is open! Book your 30+ day stay with us today (www.airbnb.com/h/theedward).

12/20/2022

The perfect surprise from Basket Case Gift Baskets!

Absolutely loved getting to deliver this Basket Case to last week! This was a surprise gift basket from , one of the owners of The Edward House, for her hubby. They traveled from their home in AZ to come back to for the holidays. Thank you for being such a great partner and can’t wait to cheers in person soon ❤️🎄

12/05/2022

A HUGE "Thank you!" to the Galena's Living History Alliance for all of their hard work. Our plaque has officially been installed!

We give you 401 Fourth Street! Congratulations and sincere gratitude go out to our homeowners: Kayla, Joe and Matt. May she always stand proudly to remind us of her earliest days.

How will we know it's us without our past?
~John Steinbeck

11/25/2022

Happy Thanksgiving from The Edward crew!

Stumbling upon (and purchasing) The First Ward Schoolhouse has been a learning experience to say the least, but, boooooy, are we beyond grateful for this journey we get to share together. Cheers to you and yours!