By David S. Rotenstein
NKyTribune reporter
The Bavarian Inn is poised to become Covington’s MainStrasse neighborhood’s newest short-term rental property. It will be operated in a former funeral home.
Cincinnati-based J.M Property Company, LLC, bought the property in 2022. The lot includes a historic home at 917 Main St. and another building that fronts York Street, 916 York St.
In 2022, the Board of Architectural Review and Development (also known as B.O.A.R.D.) approved three non-host short-term rentals for the property. Covington’s code recognizes two types of short-term rentals: host-occupied and non-host occupied. Host-occupied properties are those that double as the owner’s primary residence.
Organized in 2021, J.M. Property Company is controlled by Matt Pesler and Jack Wright. It’s one of several LLCs Pesler and Wright have registered in Ohio. Their companies include financial management and insurance services.
Grand Welcome Cincinnati & Northern KY is one of Pesler’s companies. According to its name registration filed with the Ohio Secretary of State, Grand Welcome is in the “residential rentals” business. The company’s website lists properties it manages in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, including 916 York St.
The Vrbo listing for 916 York St. describes it as “a trio of chic and cozy apartments” and it can accommodate six guests.
The building originally functioned as the John Middendorf Sons Funeral Home garage and storage building. Founded about 150 years ago in downtown Covington, the funeral home bought Bavarian Brewing Company founder William Riedlin’s home in 1926.
Riedlin died in 1919 and his heirs sold the property to the Middendorf family, which moved its business to 917 Main St. from its longtime location on Madison Avenue.
“The building, which is the old Riedlin homestead, has been completely remodeled and transformed into a modern funeral establishment,” the Kentucky Post reported in 1927.
The Middendorf funeral home was a community anchor for much of its history. Obituaries for many German families who lived in Covington notified mourners that they could pay their respects there.
Sister Janet Bucher, a retired nun and Covington native who grew up behind the funeral home on York Street, has fond memories of playing in its yard and the building now known as 916 York St.
“We often hid up in the Middendorf’s funeral home yard,” Bucher said. She recalled playing kick the can in the yard, sledding down the driveway and hiding behind bushes and in the outbuilding. “We’d been known to go in that garage and hide inside these coffin boxes — not closed, but, you know, open coffin boxes.”
The Middendorf family sold the funeral home property in 1988. As for the funeral home, it’s still family owned and is now located in Fort Wright.
After being vacant for several years, the new short-term rental caught some neighbors by surprise. Missy Spears is the vice president of the Residents of MainStrasse Association. “I didn’t know that,” she told the NKy Tribune. “This was the first I’ve learned of it.”
Because the property is located in the MainStrasse historic district, it’s subject to a cap on non-host short term rentals which limit the number of licenses issued in the district. According to Covington Assistant Neighborhood Services Director Walter Mace, “The single licensed STR at 917 Main St. is currently under rehabilitation and not operating.”
Mace noted that the owner, Pesler, already has three licenses for short-term rentals, including a property at 420 W. 7th St. Because MainStrasse has already reached its short-term rental cap, Mace noted that Pesler would have to go outside the neighborhood for a fourth license — the maximum allowed under city law.
Work began late last year to rehabilitate the property and a new sign appeared on Main Street in December. Reached by phone, Pesler declined to speak. “I’m not interested, but thanks,” he said.