Janice Sage became the owner of a picturesque Maine inn 22 years ago, after entering a writing contest.

Now the 68-year-old innkeeper is ready to retire and plans to hand off the keys to the Center Lovell Inn and Restaurant to a new owner with a new contest.

Ms Sage announced the contest late last year, and expects to receive 7,500 entries from prospective new owners by the May 7 deadline.

On Monday, the Daily Mail Online spoke with Ms Sage about her decision to finally step away from the inn she's toiled at and invested $500,000 into for renovations.

All this could be yours: The owner of the Center Lovell Inn and Restaurant in Maine is holding a contest, with the winner getting to take over ownership of the historic inn built in 1805

'I've been in the business 38 years so it's time to retire,' Ms Sage said, adding that she's looking forward to doing nothing in her retirement after years of 17-hour workdays.

Ms Sage says she can't reveal the essay that won her the inn in 1993, but she believes her 16 years running a restaurant in Maryland helped.

'One of the judges told me they chose me because they saw that I could carry on the inn and make it a viable business,' Ms Sage said.

While Ms Sage has the right to sell the business, as the outright owner, she has decided to give it away with a new essay contest out of goodwill.

'I just want to pass it on to somebody else who is looking for an inn, who possibly can't own it on their own outright and I think this is a good way to pay it forward,' she said.

Ms Sage hopes to read all of the applications by May 17, and says she'll be impressed by grammatically correct entries that show a passion for work.

Current owner: Janice Sage (pictured above) has owned the Center Lovell Inn since 1993, when she won a similar contest

Deadline approaching: Prospective owners can apply to take over the inn by submitting a 200-word essay and $125 by the deadline of May 7

The prompt for the essay is simple: 'Why I would like to own and operate a country inn.' Prospective new owners must answer the question in a pithy 200 words, and pay $125 to enter the contest.

Ms Sage will be keeping the money from the application, which could exceed the inn's estimated value of $900,000.

Ms Sage won't choose the winner, though. Instead, she'll whittle down the list to the top 20 candidates and then let a two-person team who have no stake in the inn select the winner by May 21. The inn will then transfer to the new owner within 30 days, along with $20,000 to jumpstart the business.

However, the new owners must agree to keep the inn, which dates back to 1805, painted white with green or black trim. They must also run the property as an inn for at least one year after the handover.

Busy, busy: The inn, located three hours north of Boston, is open year round and its seven rooms are routinely booked up seven days a week in the high season

While the new owners can revel in self-employment, the job of keeping up the inn is no easy work, Ms Sage warns.

The inn, located three hours north of Boston, is open year round and its seven rooms are routinely booked up seven days a week in the high season.

Everyday, Ms Sage and about 10 employees work to cook breakfast, clean rooms, take reservations, check out guests and serve dinner.

'Unless you raise 14 kids, you’re not going to be used to this,' Ms Sage told the Boston Globe. 'Look, this is something you start when you’re young. It takes a lot of stamina.'

Ms Sage was 46 when she took over the inn, having never visited Maine before in her life.

When she learned she was the lucky winner, she brought along her parents to help with the new place (her father has since passed and mother is now in a nursing home).