Ring the doorbell at Mary Ellen LeComte’s home and you are likely to be met at the door by an English woman in a maid’s uniform. Ms. Jill Weatherby will invite you to take a seat in the tea room at a Victorian era table that’s beautifully decorated with an antique lace and a tea set. Ms. Weatherby will serve you tea (hot or cold), make sure you are comfortable, then announce your presence to the lady of the house – Mrs. Mary Ellen LeComte, also know as Anna, the Duchess of Bedford.If you are longing to sample the life of a well-to-do Victorian era woman, get some girlfriends together (minimum of six, maximum of twenty) for a few hours of fun at Mary Ellen’s Tea Room. LeComte will dress you in the era’s finest clothes complete with jewelry, gloves, hats and fans, serve a three course meal of tasty refreshments with hot and cold tea of course, dazzle you with trivia, give a lesson on proper etiquette, and entertain you with gossip and games. “It’s three hours of pure fun,” says owner Mary Ellen LeComte. “It’s truly a unique experience designed to make fairy tale memories in an atmosphere of Victorian elegance.” LeComte and Weatherby have hosted tea parties for birthdays, bridal and baby showers, special church and school events, and for all ages from elementary girls to great grandmas. “The first thing we do is go to wardrobe and dress the ladies in period costumes,” LeComte said. “It sets the mood right away and really allows the ladies to be silly and have fun. We play games and give out little prizes to the winners.”The “Tea Room” is actually the front portion of LeComte’s home. Filled with round tables, Victorian furniture, antique dolls, tea sets, and other collectables of the era, it is reminiscent of a seventeenth century parlor room. “This room represents my life,” Le Comte said. “Most every item in this room has a story behind it. While I bought some of these things myself, many were gifts from family and friends.” LeComte has been interested in the Victorian era for as long as she can remember. However, the idea of hosting tea parties first came to her when her daughter Jennifer was a child and the two of them would search yard sales for period clothing to play dress up. “It was great fun for us and still is,” LeComte said. Jennifer, now 25 years old and married with a child of her own, still enjoys shopping with her mother.Mary Ellen’s Tea Room is one of three businesses LeComte owns and runs out of her home. She also trains horses and teaches horse care to people who do not know a lot about equines but want to learn. She is also a cosmetologist who does hair, nails, and skincare out of her home salon. “I never have to leave my home to work,” LeComte said. A very busy entrepreneur, she was sidelined in 2002 after a car accident left her with multiple broken bones and head injuries that left her in a wheelchair for over a year and a half. Her husband Richard, a retired Army physician’s assistant, was also seriously injured. Both suffer residual affects from the accident but consider themselves lucky to be alive and able to resume most of their daily routines.It was during this period when her close friend Weatherby came to her aid. “Jill did so much for me,” Lecomte said. “I couldn’t bend or lift; she did all the physical stuff.” Weatherby was born and raised in England. She moved to the US when her American husband’s parents needed help with health problems. She eventually went to cosmetology school which is where she met LeComte who was teaching a class at the time. They became fast friends and when LeComte opened Mary Ellen’s Tea Room, Weatherby was a natural addition with her British accent and proper mannerisms. Weatherby also runs a skincare business out of her home in Black Forest but has been on hiatus since breaking her arm. “I will be open for business as soon as my arm heals but I will of course, continue to be part of Mary Ellen’s Tea Room,” Weatherby said. “It’s such great fun to be part of it.”LeComte said she has always been spirited and adventurous. Born and raised in Washington DC, she left home at age 14 to live with a friend in Florida. When her friend’s uncle died, she moved in with the aunt to help her grandchildren. Still underage, she got a job working as a bartender at an American Legion by an Air Force base. The people there were very good to her and encouraged LeComte to join the Air Force. Taking them up on it one day, she went to the Air Force recruiting office and it was closed. Across the street was the Army recruiting office so she went in and joined the Army. “My Air Force friends were shocked but they still gave me a real nice going away party,” LeComte said. She was trained as a combat medic and lived in several states and Germany. She met her husband at Fort Bragg, NC and they married in 1977.LeComte also did missionary work in Haiti. She went several times usually over the Christmas season as that was when volunteers were needed the most. “It was during the Papa Doc reign and was dangerous but the need was so great and the people so grateful for the help that I got out of it far more than I gave,” LeComte said. Retiring in 1977, the LeComte’s chose Colorado as their home and began second careers. Mary Ellen LeComte is a woman who doesn’t slow down often but when you need to, her Victorian Tea Room is great place to it.For reservations or more information, call Mary LeComete at (719) 683-5526.
