Interior designer Barbara Carmichael and her partner, Chip Masemore, a restoration contractor, took a circa-1898 unheated apartment house and turned it into a striking deep-blue B&B with purple-and-white trim. Rooms were combined to make one- and two-bedroom suites and were outfitted with queen or king beds, TVs, minirefrigerators, and microwaves. Some have access to a porch or private deck.
The inn is done in warm reds and greens and manages to blend decor from the 1860s to the 1930s with flights of fancy.
Across from the barber’s chair in the parlor is Minerva, the “head of housekeep-ing.” In addition to being stuffed, she seems also to be stewed, for she sits proudly on the sofa, a wine glass in one hand and a bottle in her apron pocket. Chip’s collection of turn-of-the-century toys, games, and bawdy women decorates the common areas. The higher in the building you go, the bawdier they get.
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