Over the past 24 years, Charlie and Denni Hubert’s home has been host to celebrities, Emmy award winners, newscasters, pig farmers, honeymooners, ministers, professors from around the world, Tony award winners, attorneys, CEOs, Nobel-prize winners, cartoonists, heads of national security and nuns. If walls could talk, these surely would have something profound to say.

“When your kids go away, you can share your home with people from all over the world,” Denni said. “And we have.”

The Huberts are owners of the Hubert House Bed and Breakfast, 710 W. Oregon St. in Urbana, a business they started in the fall of 1986 when their grown children left home. Instead of selling their Urbana mansion, the empty-nesters opted to turn it into a cozy B & B.

“We (didn’t) want to give up the home that we love, and why should we have to?” Denni said.

The house was built in 1915 for the wealthy Van Doren family. The six-bedroom home is nestled in a quiet Urbana neighborhood, although it is surprisingly close to campus. Quintessentially quaint and completely comfortable, the home-away-from-home has opened its doors to people from all over the world.

“To us, it’s like waving colored flags in our faces because we love the diversity of the people we meet in our lives,” Charlie said.

After their short stay with the warm-hearted couple they leave as friends, not strangers.

“It’s a nice introduction for people from all over the world to come see our little town. We call Urbana ‘Superbia,’” Denni said. “It’s the best of the little towns and the big towns all mixed together.”

Often times, their guests reciprocate the Huberts’ generosity and offer to switch roles with the hosts and invite them to their own homes.

“After they’ve stayed here, when they get ready to leave, you put your hand out and they will knock your hand out of the way and give you a bear hug,” Charlie said.

When full, the Hubert House lodges up to 12 guests. The Huberts are accustomed to having a full-house, though; between her three daughters and his four sons from previous marriages, the “Brady Bunch”-esque family enjoys being in the business of hospitality.

“We truly like the people that stay at our B & B,” Denni said. Her husband added, “These are people we probably never would have had the opportunity to meet.”

Sylvia Sullivan lives just a few blocks away from the Huberts and for the past eight years, Sullivan has been the owner of Sylvia’s Irish Inn, 312 W. Green St.

Although she had to wait to start her bed and breakfast until her husband got out of the military, Sullivan had been collecting furniture and décor for 14 years prior to the Inn’s debut in 2002.

“I was determined to have one,” Sullivan said. “This place took every penny we had. It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy it.”

The Irish Inn could be dubbed “Sylvia’s International Inn” — not only is 95 percent of the house’s furniture from England, Ireland and Scotland, but her inn has made a splash with guests who are also from across the pond.

“Over 85 percent of my guests are from Europe,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had people stay with us from France, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Israel, Ireland, England, Iran and parts of Asia.”

The Queen Anne house was built in 1892 for Dr. Austin Lindley and still boasts the house’s original hardwood floors and stained glass windows.

In its 100 years, the three-story house has assumed many different roles: a real estate office, a gift shop, an attorney’s office, a curtain-making shop and finally a bed and breakfast. The house has been declared a Historical Landmark, and is a part of Urbana’s Historical Society.

Though the house itself could be considered famous of sorts, Sullivan’s breakfasts have brought her the most acclaim.

“We have people coming here just for my baked eggs,” Sullivan said. A fan of the little-of-this-and-a-tad-of-that-approach, Sullivan makes sure her guests start their day with something hearty. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Sullivan makes her own Irish bread and “real coffee” every morning.

“My coffee is French pressed coffee,” she said. “It’s not watered down like other coffees you find in Urbana.”

The Huberts also go out of their way to ensure that their guests’ first meal of the day is also their finest meal of the day. The Continental Plus breakfast is served on real china, with real silver flatware and Waterford crystal glassware.

“No matter what we do we make it special,” Denni said.