The Calumet & Arizona Guest House was already a Bisbee landmark when Joy and John Timbers bought it in 1977. But nearly a half-century of ownership, along with four decades of hosting guests, has added a new layer of history — one that’s evident from one look around this bed-and-breakfast in the Warren neighborhood of the old mining town.
“Everything in the house has so many different meanings to it,” Joy says. There are the eight different seasons of table settings, assembled from Joy’s grandmother’s collection; the “Talavera restroom,” featuring a Talavera-style toilet Joy painted herself; and a new mural, by Bisbee artist Judy Perry, honoring John, a world-class cyclist who died in a hit-and-run crash on his bicycle in 2023.
The additions augment, rather than obscure, the house’s more distant history. Designed by noted architect Henry Trost in 1906 as a home for an employee of the Calumet & Arizona Mining Co., the building later was acquired by the C&A and used as guest quarters for visiting executives. In later years, it bounced from owner to owner; it was “in pretty rough shape,” Joy recalls, when she and John acquired it.
After the two personally completed an extensive restoration, they opened the guest house in 1984, and that year, it appeared in an Arizona Highways feature about B&Bs. The couple kept improving the property over the decades, notably by adding a koi pond, ramada and garden featuring desert foliage and rainwater irrigation.
As for the six guest rooms, they feature a variety of bed combinations and private or shared baths, along with eclectic antique furnishings. Guests often spend much of their time in the common areas, including an elegant dining room where a made-to-order breakfast — from a menu that includes fresh fruit salad, pancakes, bacon, eggs, crepes, and homemade breads and jellies — is served every morning.
Joy is 80 now, and she’s brought Kim Palumbo on board to help with cooking and other duties, but she still enjoys visiting with guests and sharing the history of the property and suggestions of things to do in the Bisbee area. “It has kept me young,” she says. “I don’t
make a living off of it; you could say it’s a hobby. I want to enjoy the people and hear their stories.”
Some rooms at the Calumet & Arizona Guest House are listed on Airbnb, but all rooms can be booked by calling the B&B directly. Usually, Joy is the one who answers. And she’s got a half-century of her own stories to tell.
Calumet & Arizona Guest House
608 Powell Street
Bisbee, AZ
United States