Innkeeper's Story

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The Making of a perfect B&B – from 4,216 miles away!

from Stonehurst Place Inn

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Barb Shadomy was studying in London, England, and found the for sale website for a B&B, just a mile from the Atlanta home she left when moving to London in 2004. With her interior design degree complete and studies underway in garden design, she was ready for a project and this 1896 home, a B&B, seemed like the place. Nine months later, it was hers and the project began.

Barb closed the inn, packed up a good bit of the furniture, rugs etc. that she wanted to keep for the inn after renovation, and donated the rest (about half the house) to a nonprofit that helps homeless women and families secure affordable housing.

Barb’s renovation project lasted through to the last minute, with her contractors literally leaving through the back exit as her first guests were coming in the front door! Barb’s crew was working on final touches like hanging pictures, fine tuning, etc ... but for her it was a ‘Lucy and Ethel’ memory for sure!

Barb closed Stonehurst for a little over 14 months of renovation. “It was an amazing process, my first project out of garden and interior design school in London,” says Barb. “My goal was to make it a chic, urban inn a la one of my favorite hotels, the JK Place in Florence.” It is Barb’s homage to this inspiration that led to the new name, Stonehurst Place.

“I used as much of my design training as I could to tackle a green renovation, for which we received a Renovation Project of The Year Award in 2009” she describes. “Green was difficult in Atlanta - still is - as the City is just not up to speed on what can and should be done! I worked with a historic preservation architect, and we altered little of the home, but made select areas that needed great repair be an opportunity for my creative side” says Barb. “In the end, it cost as much to renovate as it did to buy, but it should stand for another 100 years. Plus, we love it, and its home now!”

Barb and her innkeeper welcome guests to Stonehurst Place year round, and have won several awards in their first year of operation.

picture of Barb and Frank Lloyd Wright

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