Jason Downing shows off the many dog miniatures that belonged to Viola Murtlow in the living room of his home in Fort Hunter. Murtlow willed the house to Downing when she died in 1995.
For much of its life, the large white building at 248 Main St. in the hamlet of Fort Hunter was a warm and welcoming place.
August Becker entertained guests there as proprietor of the Fort Hunter Hotel way back in the 19th century, and his son-in-law Orville Blanche ran the place — also his residence — as a boarding house and a barber shop well into the 20th century. Even now, current owners Jason and Katherine Downing put up a sign that reads “The Downings International House,” and since 2002 have been renting out rooms to foreign students at Fulton-Montgomery Community College.