The History of Our Inn

The residence was built by Dean J.P. Whyte (Acting Dean from 1969-1970; Dean from 1970-1975) of The Marshall-Wythe School of Law (now known as William and Mary Law School) in the 1960s with bricks from a 1700’s-era courthouse that was dismantled during the Rockefellers’ restoration of the historic area of Williamsburg from the 1930s. Throughout the inn, on both the inside and outside of the building, you may see initials on some of the bricks. These are the brick-maker marks of the indentured servants who made the bricks back in the late 1600s or early 1700s.

This historic house was turned into a bed & breakfast in 1992 by Will & Scottie Philips, who personally oversaw the transition to the historic inn we know today. The Philips family ran the inn for a decade before retiring and handing it off to Karen and Ron Watkins, who spent another 14 years operating it as a full-service Bed & Breakfast. Since 2021, the inn has been managed by third-generation owners Angela Hill, Kelsey Abell, and Benming “Benny” Zhang, who all maintain long-standing ties to the legal profession, the local Williamsburg area, and William & Mary.