Twenty years ago, Theresa and Troy Stavens undertook the challenge of a lifetime: restoring one of Gloucester County’s most historic properties. Their entrepreneurial spirits and love of history and preservation have resulted in a successful business and a unique living situation.
The Stavenses own and operate the Inn at Warner Hall, an 11-room bed-and-breakfast located on the waterfront plantation created in 1642 by George Washington’s great-great-grandfather Augustine Warner.
What makes their situation unique is that while the Stavenses reside on the historic property with their two dogs, George and Martha, they don’t live at the Inn but in a renovated “barn” instead.
The second of their two restoration projects at Warner Hall, the Stavenses current residence was inspired in 2004 by a big lack of private living space and a little leap of faith.
When the Stavenses purchased the colonial revival manor house and outbuildings in 1999, it was a private residence and in much need of repair. Though the task was daunting, the Stavenses couldn’t turn down the opportunity to preserve an important piece of Virginia history.
“History is really important to us, which is why we moved to Williamsburg from Los Angeles,” said Theresa. “We love history, water, fabulous climate, being close to airports and universities and we think this is utopia — this region of Virginia has it all, and when we stumbled on this, it was like, how can you not?”
During the massive renovation, the Stavenses took up residence in the late 17th-century kitchen dependency, occupying the upstairs service quarters. Shortly after the inn opened in 2000, the Stavenses found themselves sharing their private living space with refrigerators, dish racks and storage for pots and pans.
By summer 2004, the inn’s success had squeezed their living area down to a single club chair, TV and dining table that did double duty for kitchen prep and employee break space.
“We simply had no privacy,” said Troy. “And it was beginning to lose its luster.”
Then one night while the couple was sipping wine on the front porch, Theresa looked at the horses grazing in the pasture near the old brick barn on the property and thought, “We could live there!”
“I said, we could turn the barn into our home,” recalled Theresa. “And Troy said, ‘So the barn is your dream house? Really?'”
And they did.
The ambitious couple took on their second historical preservation project.
“We heard the calling,” Theresa said. “The community was loving the property at Warner Hall, and we needed a little more privacy. The barn was just far enough away to have a little breathing room, but close enough to still have the pulse on what’s going on at the inn.
“Most people thought we were a little crazy when we began renovating the inn, but it was one of the most fun periods of our lives,” Theresa continued. “When we started this barn project, our friends thought we were really crazy. I mean there were horses living there, dirt floors — far worse of a state than we faced with the manor house.”
Their concept was to create a residence based off the original footprint of the barn. They set about designing a living space with plenty of room for entertaining and for family to visit. A modern staircase instead of a ladder now leads to the second-floor bedrooms in the old hay loft. Though they had to remove rotted siding, they preserved the 1740’s brickwork and kept the barn windows in their original locations.
The Stavenses’ home is reminiscent of a country barn, but not a literal representation.
“We are so fortunate to have had this opportunity,” Theresa said. “We love our business and the proximity of our workplace at the Inn, but really, there’s no place like home.”
The inn’s history
The original 600-acre plantation was given to Warner via a land grant from the British Crown in exchange for the safe passage of 12 settlers across the Atlantic Ocean to Jamestown Settlement. The Warners and the Lewises (John 1) are the two families associated with the thriving plantation well into the 19th century. Descendants of both of these families include George Washington, the first president of the United States; Robert E. Lee, the most famous Civil War general; and Capt. Meriwether Lewis, renowned American explorer of the Lewis and Clark expedition. More on the history of the inn is on the Warner Hall website.
