Fairhope, Alabama B&B Inkeeper Robert Berglin of Point Clear Cottages has deep roots in Mobile Bay area.

Our host, Robert Berglin

I was born in Providence Hospital in Mobile, AL on April 20, 1938.  My grandfather, Adolph Berglin, came to Fairhope from Wisconsin in 1896 and was one of Fairhope’s first mayors.

My grandfather and grandmother were married in Fairhope in 1900. My grandfather started the first creamery in Alabama in 1908, under the bluff near the Fire Department Meeting Building. The Fairhope Ice & Creamery Co was one of Fairhope’s largest employers and was in business until 1961, when family members passed away and the business was sold to Barber Milk Co of Birmingham, AL.

My father was born in Fairhope Ave in 1902. My mother came to Fairhope, from Monroe County, AL, in 1925 to teach school.  She and my daddy were married on June 15, 1927, the day that the Mobile Bay Causeway was opened to automobile traffic.  Prior to that, people had to go by bay boat to Mobile.

At a widower’s meeting, I was recently asked when I met my wife.  She was a native and lifelong resident of Fairhope and I never remember not knowing her. My wife of 43 years died in 2006 from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease.) Her family and my family were lifelong friends.  I have two children and two grandchildren and am blessed that we all live in the Fairhope / Point Clear area.

When I was a boy there were 1500 people here and now there are more than 15,000. I was a loan officer for 20 years in the local bank when every town had a local bank. When the bank sold out to a large state-wide bank, I sold real estate for 15 years.

The property that I live on was purchased by my wife’s father from my uncle, Marvin Berglin, in 1948. My wife’s father gave her the lot in 1970, and we lived in the same house for 29 years in Fairhope, then built the present house on the lot in 1993.

Meet the “family”

I have two friends who, technically are employees, but are more like family.

Joann, 71, is my housekeeper and has worked for me since 2005.  She lives on the property where she was born about a mile from my house.  She is the mother of 9 children and one of the best cooks on the Eastern Shore. It will only take one meal to know why Joann is well known for her cooking skills.

You will know the skills of Bernard as soon as you see the grounds of the property. Bernard was born in Fairhope, delivered by a mid-wife at home 56 years ago, and has been my friend all of his life – he says that I helped raise him. He has been yardman-handy-man for me since 2005.