Unraveling Long Dell Inn’s Past

Long Dell Inn Pre-1967
Long Dell Inn Pre-1967

We had the awesome pleasure of meeting Dick and Val. They owned the Long Dell Inn for 35 years. Purchasing the Long Dell Inn back in 1953 while on their honeymoon, they raised their children on the property before selling the Inn in 1988.

Marc Donna Dick and Val, 30 October 2014
Marc Donna Dick and Val, 30 October 2014

As custodians of the Long Dell Inn, their business model was a bit different than what the Long Dell Inn is today. When they began, they merely rented rooms. There was no food or beverage service. At some point later, they added coffee service. They typically rented rooms out by the week and did accept shorter reservations if the room had not yet been rented out. Back in 1953, large rooms went for $6/day while a smaller room was $3/day.

Living Room/Foyer, Main House, 1st Floor

There used to be a foyer just inside the front door. This foyer had an entryway into the living room, along with door access into a small bedroom. That small bedroom is now part of Captain’s Quarters (Room 1). Also off the foyer were the stairs going to the second floor, and a coat closet underneath the stairs. Evidence of the coat closet still exists. You can see where the modeling is patched in. Also, when looking from the interior of the Room 1 closet, you can see the doorway was just covered over by sheetrock with some of the door’s molding still visible.

Room 1, Captain’s Quarters

The “bed” side of the room was originally part of the dining room. The other part of the room was a small bedroom with a closet (which is now the bathroom). This small room was most likely some type of servant’s quarters, as there was a door in the room which led to a butler’s pantry. You can clearly see were the room used to be divided.

Kitchen/Butler’s Pantry

The kitchen area now encompasses what was a butler’s pantry. The former butler’s pantry space is now the home of our refrigerators and Room 1 bathroom shower. The small butler’s pantry had two doors and a pass-through window. From the pantry, you could access the dining room and servant’s bedroom via doorways, and the kitchen was accessible via a pass-through window. From the kitchen, there also used to be a stairway upstairs to access one of the common bathrooms.

Gallery/Dining Room

The Gallery area used to be part of the Dinning Room along with the “bed” side of what is now Room 1, Captain’s Quarters. You can tell this based on where the electric is coming out of the ceiling in the Gallery – relatively close to the wall.

Room 2, Tradewinds

This bedroom with en suite used to be two separate rental rooms. These rooms could be rented individually or together as they were adjoining.

Room 3, Down the Shore

This bedroom with en suite used to be a bedroom and common bathroom. The bathroom was originally accessible from the hallway.

Room 4, Grenville

This bedroom with en suite used to be a bedroom and common bathroom. The bathroom was originally accessible from the hallway.

Attic

The two rooms in the attic, also used to be rented. Since the house had two common bathroom’s this now makes sense.

Owner’s Quarters

This area was added in 1967.

Carriage House (Rooms 5, 6 and 7)

These rooms were finished back in the early 1960s.