SALUDA – Residents of Saluda who are familiar with the

M.A. Pace building on Greenville Street might have noticed renovations going on with the building in recent months.

The building, which was built in 1922 by the original owner of the downtown general store, is being renovated as a bed and breakfast by Greenville, S.C. native Alexis Deal and will be known as the Blue Firefly Inn once open.

Deal has designed the interiors for public spaces such as the Flat Rock Village Bakery, Dandelion Eatery in Hendersonville and West First Wood-Fired Pizza in Hendersonville.

“Pace’s office was in the southeast corner of the house and before the picnic shelter was built at the park across the street, he would be able to sit there and have an eye on his store and watch the store from the room,” Deal said. “I’m excited to hear all the stories from the locals. I know the Paces are a big part of Saluda.”

Bicycling by the nearly century old home many times interested Deal in one day doing something with it.

“I’ve been living in Hendersonville for the last 15 years or so, and I’ve been an avid cyclist and I’ve been riding past this house for years,” Deal said. “I always really admired it, and when I saw it was on the market after seeing it was empty, I said I knew exactly what needed to be done with all the cycling that comes through Saluda.”

At the time, she said she was living in a little house in Hendersonville with her two daughters and the timing was not right for her plans to transform the house into a business. Deal said she acquired the building permits in November 2015.

“I kept thinking about it, and it was just one of those ideas that wouldn’t leave me alone,” Deal explained. “I remember passing it one day, and when I hit the watershed, it all came to my head. I remember being in the forest and seeing the blue fireflies with my girls and I thought, ‘that’s the name.’”

A biking injury to her ankle, along with her daughter having a few biking accidents involving vehicles not paying attention, is what Deal said is what made her begin thinking of another way of making a living. Deal said she is also a painter and does custom design work, which involves a lot of physicality at Circolo Art & Design.

“I just wanted to think of another idea for the next phase of my life here,” Deal said. “Saluda is the first mountain town as you come up the grade so it’s always been dear to my heart. I lived in northern California for a few years, but I really missed these mountains and wanted to come back.”

Deal said she worked with the Natural Capital Investment Fund and a representative based in western North Carolina to get the project started, adding the NCIF likes to focus on projects that have an ecological and environmentally friendly angle.

“Whether it’s getting people outside or it’s the way they are using their energy, we’ll be doing things here like having efficient energy, composted food, we’ll have a garden out back,” Deal said. “We’ll grow what we can and enjoy that during the summer and fall. I love that there is good agriculture in this area with the farmers and so many people with fresh eggs, produce and a lot of good sources here.”

Renovations to the building include new radiant infrared heaters, new in-suite bathrooms and updating the kitchen, Deal said. The house will have four bedrooms available for guests, each with their own bathroom, and Deal said she and her younger daughter would also be living at the house.

“The radiant heaters feel like sunlight and heat the surfaces of the room instead of the air and so it actually retains heat better. I have people that I trust doing the HVAC, electrical and plumbing, and we’ve really tackled all the rest,” Deal said. “There’s been a lot of structural and framing and plastering that needed major repair, lot’s of issues that we’ve encountered. We’re really excited where we’re going to be and it’s all part of the process.”

A space under the front porch will be utilized as a place for bicyclists to come and refuel where they can grab waters and snack bars. If repairs need to be made to bikes, Deal said she would accommodate for that as well.

“There’s a great pass through, and I can actually drive my car underneath this porch, and we’ll have a water station down for bicyclists who want to pass through and grab bottles. We’re also going to try to have nutrition gels and bars, stuff like that, in a feed zone,” Deal said. “If you need those kind of sports specific things that are hard to find, we want to have that available. There’s also a shower installed for bicyclists to clean themselves off or their bikes.”

Focusing on what she really likes to do also pedaled Deal in the direction of opening a new bed and breakfast near the downtown area. Deal added she would love to be open in the fall for most of the full season.

“I really did some soul searching and thought what are the things that I really love about life, and that is riding my bike, making good food for the people I care about and having people in and taking care for them,” Deal explained.