The Brick House Inn at 111 Washington Street, just off of Capitol Landing Road, stands as the oldest bed and breakfast in Williamsburg, according to owner Bonnie Fairbank.
However, before it was a popular guest house, Fairbanks says her colonial style home was the first house constructed by Colonial Williamsburg for its workers.
The residence has some unique features reflective of the Colonial Williamsburg restoration period that began in 1926.
Fairbank says that the walls, floors, and the downstairs windows come from supplies from the restoration. These details had been covered up when she bought the home. Some work was needed in order to uncover some of the home’s more historical features.
“The walls are 15 inches thick. The windows come from Williamsburg,” Fairbank said. “There’s not one window that is the same size, because whatever they had extra, they brought over and put in this house.”
Fairbank explained some of the woodwork comes from other notable places in Williamsburg, such as the Peyton Randolph House, a historic house museum at Nicholson and North England streets.
Upstairs, most of the guest rooms at the bed and breakfast are named after presidents, due to the actors who portrayed those who had lived there during colonial times, Fairbanks says.
“I have the Washington, the Jefferson, and the Adams’ [rooms].” Fairbank explains.
Actually, the only room that is not named for an actor that played a president in Colonial Williamsburg is the Adams, but it’s there nonetheless, she added.
“And that’s just because I love him,” she says, referring to President John Adams.
The home has an unassuming appearance from the outside, Fairbanks said. When people enter, the size takes them by surprise, she said. Fairbanks had the same experience when she bought the home.
“I thought ‘well, that’s a tiny little house, but it’s cute. It looks like Williamsburg’ ” Fairbanks said.
But when she walked inside, she couldn’t believe the size.
“It just keeps going.”
To learn more about the property, click here.
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