When Robert and Clara Baum visited Coronado this June where they performed their two-person play, “Frank and Maude” based on the life of Robert’s famous great grandfather, L. Frank Baum, and his wife Maude, they required overnight accommodations.

L. Frank Baum was the author of the famous Oz books, many of which were written during his extended stays in Coronado between 1904 and 1909. Perhaps he took a walk past, or poked his nose into, a newly opened boarding house of Craftsman design, just a block or two off the city’s main street. After all, Baum’s rental home was just two blocks away on Star Park Circle.

Fast forward 100 years.

The Baums’ talk was sponsored by the Coronado Historical Association. And when the Association management was told that there was no room at another rather famous inn for the night, they made a “panic” call to the newly opened 1906 Lodge, which yielded a fortuitous surprise: Yes, one room was available in the newly opened bed and breakfast of Craftsman style: the author’s suite. A suite designed as a tribute to the author of the Wizard of Oz, complete with a number of commemorative editions of the Oz books.

I called the Baums to ask how it all went. Clare answered the phone, cautiously at first, as most folks do when an unknown person calls out of the blue and chirps, “Hi, is this Clare Baum?”

But as soon as I stated the purpose of my call, Clare bubbled over, almost to the point where hubby Bob had to pull the phone away to get his own review in. “We loved that lodge,” said Clare. “We’re going to want to stay there again. The Del (where Robert’s great granddad designed the Crown Room lights) is so big and filled with people; this was quiet and lovely.”

Robert was equally charged: “When you walk in, you feel like you’re home,” he said. “I love the Mission-style, the Greene-and-Green look and this is a beautiful Craftsman design. Definitely not the glitzy stuff you see so much today. It had definite class, but in a quiet way.

“And the people who ran it were so nice,” he added. “And the breakfast? Absolutely scrumptious.”

’Nuff said! I decided to take a step back in time myself with a stay at the 1906 Lodge. I opted to stay in the Winchester Room, named in honor of the Winchesters, the family that originally built the boarding house. I had spied its beautiful sleigh bed, window seat and Tiffany lamps on the Grand Opening Open House tour a month earlier. I could picture myself penning this story (make that tapping it into a laptop) on the room’s antique oak desk with its six drawers and four arched cubbies.

My room was also ADA accessible with a large walk-in shower with overhead nozzle and a handheld nozzle available. Oh, and did I mention the plush robes?

On the wall were photos of the Winchesters, who built the Lodge — baby photos, photos of “Dad” pulling in a prize-winning fish. The Winchesters sold the property in the late 1930s to the Trant family, who renamed it the “Bay View Lodge.” And above the window alcove in my room was a curved “Bay View Lodge” sign; when I closely inspected an old framed photo of the lodge, I saw the same sign hanging at its entrance.

Saving that old sign is just one small indicator of the meticulous care the developers — all Coronado folks — spent in breathing life back into the old boarding house.

The parlor is a gracious room that lends itself to socializing, with original leaded glass windows, original wainscoting and window seats and a box-beam ceiling; this is where afternoon lemonade and hors d’oeuvres are served (a wine license is pending). Guests from Ohio, that nice Fred Eckert from San Diego’s Chicago Title, the Gillinghams and I moved out to the porch with our snacks to catch the balmy breeze.

Coming back to the room after dinner, my bed was turned down (yes there were chocolates) and climbing in to the “sleigh” was a lovely experience. Can you imagine sleeping on clouds that support you like the angel that you are? Ahh, splendid luxury!

Next thing I knew it was morning and time for my sundried tomato quiche, homemade scones and muffins, with fresh-squeezed OJ and a special blend of Blue Bridge coffee that you can only enjoy (or buy from) the lodge.

I ate inside the spacious dining room and took note of the wallpaper border that became Sue Gillingham’s launch point for the Craftsman colors she chose for the common area interior palette.

Six rooms have been recreated in the main building, each honoring people and legends of the town, and 11 luxury suites, with fireplaces, in-room spas, wet bars, refrigerators and private porches rim the perimeter.

There's a centra; courtyard with reflecting pond and fountain and newly planted fruit trees, bougainvillea and flowers. Curving walkways meander throughout.

The Lodge location just two blocks off Coronado’s busy Orange Avenue, greatly appealed to the Baums, as did the security of underground parking.

That underground parking was no easy feat and was the main reason that the Lodge’s construction, first estimated at eight months, took more than two years. It meant raising the ramshackle structure by giant crane and placing it on steel girders, digging a huge pit underneath and then plunking the house back down far more gently than when the cyclone sent Dorothy’s farmhouse hurtling down to earth where it landed with a thump in Munchkin land.

Sue and Dave Gillingham are two of the six partners in the Lodge. Sue said the original boarding house, most recently known as “Trant Manor” probably had eight or nine bedrooms and only two bathrooms. The downstairs featured a parlor and large dining room. In their day, boarding houses rented out rooms and provided meals for the tenants. The Gillinghams redid the interiors to add six large bathrooms to accompany each bedroom.

Sue combed antique andconsignment shops to locate just the right furnichings and accessories for the property. The parlor features the first piece, and her favorite, she acquired — an antique sideboard of possibly German heritage, with decidedly Arts & Crafts detailing. That’s where one of the Lodge’s innkeepers, Susan Nelson, set out the afternoon’s dainty edibles.

The period has been meticulously researched and every possible effort has been made to transport you back, albeit with today’s must-haves.

Think about the movie, “Takes you back in Time,” in which Christopher Reeves, in his attempt to time travel, replicates as much as he can about the 19th century so that he can return to his dear Jane Seymour. At the 1906 Lodge you’ll delight in the architectural details of the world of 100 years past, but make no mistake, your time travel will be matched with the latest amenities. In every room you’ll find large flat-screen televisions and DVDs and individually climatecontrolled HVAC.

Downstairs, in addition to the underground parking, are three meeting rooms to accommodate small group meetings,local caterers can arrange onsite meals for groups.

The joy of staying in a bed and breakfast that celebrates a period of American history comes in sitting back and savoring the details of the surroundings and the 1906 Lodge does not disappoint.

1906 Lodge, 437-1900, www.1906Lodge.com