{out & about} the inn at willow grove

Get excited, I have some fun eye candy for you today!  {Beware: this is a long post!  But a good one!}

Over Memorial Day weekend, Husband and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary at a newly renovated antebellum inn located in Orange, VA: The Inn at Willow Grove.

{Orange is about 40 minutes from Charlottesville, a nice drive through the country, and only about 20 minutes from Barboursville Vineyard and their fabulous Palladio Restaurant – totally recommend both!}

Y’all.  Willow Grove was AMAZING.  Really.  The inn went through a massive renovation, where the interior was completely gutted, leaving the exterior as really the only original part of the inn {though you wouldn’t know it seeing all the beautiful moulding inside!}.  The initial structure dates from the 18th century (on the left with the wood siding), with the bulk of the inn added on in the early 19th century (the center and right with the brick).

There are 14 rooms (I think 5 rooms inside and 9 cottages around the property), 2 restaurants: Vintage, a 5-star restaurant (housed in a new wing of the house on the right in the pic above), and a pub (housed in the basement through the ground floor door).  I was blown away by how luxurious the inn and restaurants were furnished – an absolutely stunning mix of antiques and contemporary furnishings and accessories.  We got to talk to the owner of Willow Grove, and he told us his wife previously owned a gallery (hence the fabulous artwork) and did all of the interior design herself (impressive!).  Want a little tour?

First up is the sitting room just off the entry.  Um.  Gorgeous.  The coffered ceiling, the drapery, the lighting, the velvet chesterfield sofas, the art, the mirrored coffee table, the zebra rugs…  I wish I had taken more pics of this room, because the upholstery, case goods, and mouldings were glorious!

We ventured upstairs to our room.  Um.  Again, glorious!  Can you get over the zebra stair runner, the stained banisters, balusters and treads, with the simple white spindles and risers, the art…just beautiful!  I wish I had taken a picture of the massive antiqued mirror on the second landing…

Up one more flight of stairs and we were at our room: “The Loft”.  It was spacious, comfortable, and very private.  My jaw pretty much dropped when I walked in, because I had no idea what to expect.

We opened the door into a beautiful “receiving room” – basically a hallway to access the sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom.  Sitting on a rustic console was our bottle of bubbly (yum!), a silver tray with full ice bucket, and bottles of Voss water (they didn’t miss a detail!).  How awesome is that abstract art and the green lamp?

Each morning we’d get a knock on our door and handed a silver tray.  On it: french press coffee for two and a paper bag full of the freshest, most delicious beignets I have ever had.  Finger lickin’ good.  Such a tasty way to start the day.

Here’s another view of the receiving room.  Aren’t the wingbacks perfection?!  And the antique rug?  And the zebra crewel pillows?  Not to mention Husband pouring champagne!  *Cheers!*

Here’s a close up of the chairs – I wanted to take them home with me and throw that rug over my shoulder on the way out:

The sitting room is located at the front of the mansion; the window is the arched window in the pediment of the house.  It had a super comfy contemporary sofa (down cushions of course), a flat screen TV on another rustic console, a pair of slipper chairs, and a glorious zebra area rug.

Every night when we came back to our room, a tray of tea (hot water in thermoses and Trappe tea in the cute triangle packaging) and snacks (petit fours one night, truffles another) were placed on the coffee table.  Bliss!

Next up, the bedroom.  Tufted, linen-upholstered, nailhead trimmed headboard?  Check!  Natura mattresses with massively thick down mattress pads?  Check!  Luxurious Anichini linens with down comforters and fluffy down pillows?  Check!

And a close up of the headboard because we all love them:

And then the other cute details of the room, like a comfy chaise with metal pig side table, office nook, and antique shoe mold used as a door stopper (yes please!):

And then the bathroom (sigh).  Marble everywhere.  Heated floors.  L’Occitane products.  Kohler Purist fixtures.  Heated towel rack.  Toto toilet.  Body jets in shower.  They really didn’t miss a detail in designing this super functional (given the space!) and fabulous bathroom.  Here are a few shots:

I loved the custom vanity and how it fit so perfectly into the slope of the roof:

Although a small bathroom, there was plenty of room for two people to stand at the vanity with that expanse of tabletop.  And isn’t the towel storage perfect?  And the tile?!  I L-O-V-E wall-mounted faucets, and this was no exception.

The shower was perfectly tucked beneath the slope of the roof, and covered top to bottom in more marble tile.  I adored the floor mosaic!  The shower head + body sprayers + handheld sprayer were so wonderful; I hope to incorporate the same into a future bathroom renovation (way down the line of course)!  And of course the heated towel rack and heated floors just made the whole experience better!

Now on to the rest of the tour.  We ate dinner in their 5-star restaurant, Vintage, located in a new wing off the house.  I don’t remember what I had but I remember it being delicious.  I ate every last bite (and was tempted to lick the plate).  I didn’t get any pictures of the restaurant, but it was beautifully, tastefully, and trendily decorated – I loved it!  {Vintage  would be a perfect place to have a rehearsal dinner!}

Our second night (a Sunday) we ate in their pub, located in the basement of Willow Grove.  It was very cool, with the original beamed ceiling, travertine floor, great lighting, lots of wood and dark leather, exposed stone and brick and a bar with lounge area (and awesome industrial cart tables) – perfectly masculine and pub-like but not at all a cave.

The pub also had tables for dinner (with linen slipped chairs and great chandeliers) and an outdoor patio (where we ate) with dancing frog fountains attached to stacked stone walls.  The pub’s menu was more limited than was offered at Vintage, but the food was fantastic, perfectly portioned and priced, and presented with a modern flair.

To round out the tour, the grounds.  Willow Grove has (I think) an additional 9 outbuilding cottages, equipped with fireplaces, porches, and the same amenities, luxury and taste as The Loft did.  We didn’t get to go inside (they were all booked!) but I got a few pics of the exteriors.  All over the property were little seating areas, fountains, and beautiful landscaped pathways.

They also have a dedicated event space on the property: a brand new barn fully decked out for a wedding reception space, and adjoining tented area.  These were set away from the mansion so as not to disturb guests when a wedding is going on.  We didn’t get to go inside, but if it was anything like the mansion, I’m sure it was amazing!

Basically, Willow Grove was awesome.

Anyone in the DC metro area or in Charlottesville should definitely make a trip to Orange for a weekend away or a special dinner at the Inn at Willow Grove – you won’t be disappointed!

Has anyone been to Willow Grove and had the same experience we did?  Or stayed at a glorious B&B? – I’d love to hear about it and put it on my “to visit” list!

{I wasn’t compensated in any way for this post – I was so impressed by our stay that I couldn’t help but write about it!}

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Have you entered the $75 giveaway to Joss & Main???  Giveaway ends July 7th!

Tagged as: B&B, charlottesville, Inn at Willow Grove, orange, restaurant, wedding