This is a manor house magnifico, or a Colonial estate with Italian dressing. The original foundation was laid in 1663 for a wealthy merchant family by the name of Goldsborough, who engaged the services of some 20-odd servants. The Italian influence entered the picture in the mid-l9th century, when the villa-like structure arose. If the setting looks familiar to you, it’s because Ashby is a star—some scenes in the movie Silent Fall, starring Richard Dreyfuss, were filmed here, and Country Inn magazine named the inn one of the top 12 in the country in 1996.
Jeanie Wagner and Cliff Meredith, both Eastern Shore natives, purchased Ashby in 1986 and transformed it from ramshackle to technologized high-gloss. Cliff, who once presided over his own contracting company, engineered all the wiring, heating, air-conditioning, and plumbing. Under his direction, small, divided spaces were demolished and opened up. No sign of the former kitchen exists, for Cliff created (from scratch) a wall-to-wall, white, custom-equipped design, which has since appeared on the cover of a popular builders’ magazine.
The pièce de résistance, however, is the Goldsborough Suite on the second floor. If you’ve never seen a fireplace in a bathroom, now’s your chance: The room is exceedingly large and sumptuous, with marble surfaces, brass railings, a bidet, a whirlpool-rigged bath, and a two-headed shower separate from the honeymooners’ tub. The sleeping chamber is dominated by a four-poster canopy bed (king-size, of course) adorned with garden-print ruffles, but its best feature is its walls of glass.
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