Lucy Boswell and her real estate agent Miki Stach walked through the front doors of a 1920s-era property at 450 S. Thurmond St., eyes widening as they took in ornate tin ceilings and original hardwood floors.

It’s safe to say the 106-year-old house quickly caught their attention.

“The woodwork is original. The floors are original. We both just kind of looked at each other, going, ‘You’re kidding me, right?’” Boswell said. 

The 76-year-old Sheridan resident immediately envisioned relatives sitting together near the living room’s fireplace, sharing cozy conversations in their pajamas. Children knocking on the doors of the home’s six bedrooms, telling people it was time for dinner. Young girls sitting in matching twin beds, staying up until 3 a.m. talking.

The home had been on the market for more than eight months, and Boswell considered making an offer.

“I went home and slept on it for a few nights,” Boswell said. “(Then) I said, ‘This is going to be a gathering place.’”

Through a partnership with the vacation rental Wyo Stays, this vision became reality. She opened her newly-furnished Gratitude House with the goal of creating unplugged experiences for connection, either through community events or overnight stay experiences.

“The timing of it was perfect,” WYO Stays CEO Dalton Goodyear said. “We’ve got a lot of great investment properties we work with, but we felt it would be awesome to match her goals and dreams as much as we could on the marketing front to bring a really nice community staple that allows for mixed use.”

On April 13, 2026, Boswell signed title paperwork down the hill from the home at Wilcox Abstract & Title Co. The next day, she marched up to the house with two close friends, and together they assembled a 35-inch crystal chandelier in the dining room. 

It was the start of a dream coming to life, one that Boswell said has made her feel 22 all over again. 

Stepping back in time

With two stories and 4,378 square feet, the large, sprawling Gratitude House property once housed a prosperous family.

Over the years, though, the property has seen many changes of hands. It’s been home to doctors, a women’s halfway home and several bed and breakfast businesses. In 2025, its value had reached $800,232. 

As the newest owner, Boswell hopes her design choices can honor the home’s history, with antiques, paintings and furnishings that make guests feel like they’ve stepped back in time.

“There are a lot of Airbnbs in Sheridan. Most of them feel like Manhattan to me. They feel like a flat in the city,” Boswell said. “I couldn’t do that to this house.”

Boswell said many of her updates to the home were cosmetic — as it already had a new roof, siding and freshly-painted walls. She said the kitchen was painted and modernized 15 years ago, and an addition to the upstairs includes a modern master bedroom-suite with heated floors and a steam shower. 

Boswell named three child-friendly rooms “Timberline,” “Paintbrush,” and “Bunkhouse,” after the Bighorn Mountains. The adult suites “Refuge,” “Fortress,” and “Sanctuary” are inspired by Biblical names for God. 

Boswell decorated all six of these rooms and the common spaces in between with pieces from estate sales, antique stores and garage sales. Some of her favorite pieces guests can find around the home include a mosaic chess set with 3D-printed pieces, a wall of mirrors, a northern lights-inspired ceiling light and an upright piano. 

Boswell said her love for antiques and design inspired her creative choices for Gratitude House. In the past, she curated theater costumes and sold high-end fashions. She said it’s in her nature to piece things together.

“When I go into a space, I see it as on a stage,” Boswell said. “I came in here and couldn’t stop thinking… I would get up in the morning and think, ‘I just need one more table for the living room, or, ‘one more of this.’”

By June 5, Boswell had completed her design, and Gratitude House welcomed its first guests.

Experiencing gratitude

Boswell spent months filling the house with reminders of another era. But what she wants guests to take away isn’t necessarily an antique, but an appreciation for life and the people who have shaped it.

In her life, Boswell said this practice began with her mother, Kally Close. As a child, she watched her mother write thank you cards to waiters, flight attendants and customer service representatives. She encouraged her children to do the same.

“Dec. 26 was a holiday to her,” Boswell said. “It was, ‘Sit down and write all the thank you notes to everybody that gave you a present, and you can’t play with your toys until
you do.’”

Since then, Boswell has seen the power of two simple words, “thank you.” 

She wrote a card to a high school choir teacher more than 40 years after graduation, thanking him for instilling a lifelong love of music. The teacher wrote a note back in response, saying Boswell was the first student in 60 years of teaching to write him a thank you card.

“He died six months later,” Boswell said. “And I thought, you know what? How many times do people go to a funeral and recall, ‘Oh yeah, he was such a great guy,’ but never tell him to his face?”

Boswell saw that same power with her late husband, decorated World War II veteran Louis Boswell, a U.S. Army soldier who received a Silver Star for his service in Europe. He returned home carrying the physical and emotional effects of the war, including PTSD and hearing loss. But most of all, he spent years feeling that the sacrifices he made during the war went unappreciated.

“He didn’t believe anybody in Europe cared,” Boswell said. 

When the couple traveled to Europe in 1986, Louis Boswell heard the words “Thank you for your service” from residents and passersby. Boswell said these words healed a part of her husband, four decades after the war.

These experiences gave her an even greater appreciation for her mother’s practice and inspired her to start Gratitude House in her memory. 

During their stay, Boswell wants to ensure guests have the opportunity to thank someone they love. Every room has a desk with stationery to write notes of gratitude. The staff mail these letters every Friday.

It’s an old-fashioned practice — one that outdates phones, televisions and laptop screens. But Boswell sees this as the beauty of it. She hopes those who step inside Gratitude House unplug from reality long enough to experience a quieter kind of joy — the kind found in ordinary moments, like a conversation at the dinner table, a game by the fire or a note to an old friend.

“(Back then) we were way more connected with one another,” Boswell said. “And I think we’re missing that.”