B & B
by Patti Guthrie
Doylestown, our county seat, has many wonderful historic buildings, but none that are more charming than the Hargrave House Bed & Breakfast. Originally a fieldstone house built in 1814, it was converted into a bed and breakfast in 2001. After adding a three-story brick addition with two spacious guest suites on each floor, the new owners opened the 1814 House Inn, which closed early in 2008.
On October 3, 2008, a Saturday, Lorna Woodson met with the owner, whom she knew for years. The owner asked her, “Have you ever run a B&B?” When Lorna said she hadn’t, he replied, “Well, we’ve got one to run to run now. You’re English. I know you can do it.” And Lorna then became the Innkeeper.
Under her guidance, Hargrave House opened late in 2008. Lorna said, “When setting it up, I strived to make it look like a home without the pristine nakedness of a hotel. For example, there are knick-knacks around. Also, each room is individualized in its color scheme and accessories.” Every room has a large bathroom, five with two-person Jacuzzis. In addition, each room has individual temperature control, either a king or a queen size feather bed with top quality linens, a desk, a flat screen HDTV, wireless internet, a small refrigerator, a Keurig coffee maker and a basket of snacks and a hair dryer. Five of the rooms have electric fireplaces.
The only connecting rooms are the two on the ground floor, the Garden Suite, which is ADA accredited, and the Patio Suite. The two on the second floor annex are the State Street and Main Street Suites, while the third floor houses the Doylestown and Bucks County Suites. The sunny, airy breakfast room occupies the second floor of the original building.
The B&B is named for Thomas Hargrave, a previous owner who came to Doylestown from Philadelphia in 1853. He and his brother James bought the property in 1855 and had their marble stone masonry business in the back. In fact, according to Sandy DeHaven, who is the Innkeeper three days a week, there still are a couple of marble slabs bordering the parking lot, leftovers from the Hargrave business. The brothers were joined in their endeavor by Thomas’s son William. They worked on the marble detail at Girard College and crafted monuments for Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, as well as for Doylestown Cemetery. Thomas died in 1894. John Stillman then purchased the property.
To finish reading this story about Hargrave House Bed & Breakfast turn to page xxx in the Spring 2015 issue of Bucks County Magazine.