Kimberly King and Ken Grantham moved to Poulsbo about a year ago, after living for a short time with a friend. The husband and wife, both veteran actors, had moved to the Seattle area from Los Angeles at the urging of their friend.

As they figured they would have to slow down from their acting careers and need another business, they considered a Bed & Breakfast. “It translates our skills really well,” King says. “It was a way to live in a nice place…and socialize with people.”

When they found a Norwegian style home in Poulsbo, they knew that was the place. It took about a year to renovate it: replace 36 windows, paint everything, recarpet, redo floors and so on. A photo of the home before the renovation shows a stark contrast to the building now. Yet through its rundown condition, they saw that “it was so beautiful,” not to mention affordable.

“In a way, it’s like a theater set,” Grantham says, “for a very small audience. Renovating was like building the set.”

Grantham knows a thing or two about sets. An actor for 35 years, he has done theatre work, directed, and played in various films and television shows, including “Nash Bridges,” “Angel,” “The Practice,” and “Judge Pender.” Theatre also brought King into his life about 12 years ago during a musical production of “Dracula” in Texas.

“We love the theater,” says King, a 30-year veteran whose work includes theatre, opera, and musical theatre. Yet the instability of the industry has been taking a toll, so they’ve been looking for a fresh start.

“Ken and I have been basically doing job interviews for 30 years,” King says. Now, instead of having to market themselves, they can market their accommodations.

The Green Cat B&B opened its doors in May. The couple occupy the first and second of the four levels, and the guest rooms are on the top floors. The B&B portion has four rooms, but only three are rented at a time because there are only three bathrooms — four rooms are rented if a family shares a bathroom. The contractor, Jim Callahan, had to do quite a bit of work. One of the bathrooms was even split in two because the hosts realized that people would like their privacy of a non-shared bathroom.

Each room has different color schemes and décor. A kitchen, a library nook, and a “secret” children’s play area complete the setting.

The bed & breakfast reflects the couple’s extensive travels and artistic flair. Items collected from around the world are part of the décor. “We wanted to be tasteful without being pretentious,” Grantham says.

With just a few months of the B&B’s existence, the bookings are going well, King says. Even the local hotel refers overflow clients to them, and they have joined various local organizations to network. The fact that people have to drive a bit through a rural area doesn’t seem to deter customers. Plus, it is a nice drive, with a vista of beautiful trees, llama farms and such.

The local tourist industry is booming, King says, and their timing for the new venture worked out well. “We were fortunate to hit the tourist industry as it was burgeoning,” she says. “The area is growing leaps and bounds.”

And what of their acting careers? They aren’t over just yet. The couple says they will continue pursuing limited acting work. But there is one big change: No more traveling frequently around the world. Now, the world comes to them, and they look forward to welcoming guests from around the globe.