The Babcock House Bed and Breakfast Inn is located in Appomattox, Virginia. The establishment features six guestrooms located across a two-story home. Originally built in 1884, the property has been functioning as a bed and breakfast since 1996. The inn also has a restaurant attached to the building which is open five days a week, Wednesday through Saturday, for dinner. On Sundays, the restaurant offers brunch options. Both the meals served at the restaurant as well as the breakfasts served each morning for overnight patrons include vegetables grown on-site, as the owners strive to provide as many "farm to table," dishes as they can. The 1.5-acre property includes vegetable gardens, floral gardens, and multiple outdoor yard games that guests can use. Outside the borders of Babcock House Bed and Breakfast Inn, several visitors are drawn to the city of Appomattox for the various historical sites from the Civil War.
Situated in the town of Appomattox, Virginia, the Babcock House Bed and Breakfast features a Victorian-style home built in 1884. The property is situated on a 1.5-acre expanse that is characteristic of floral gardens, vegetable gardens, and multiple outdoor games that can be used by guests. The vegetables grown in the garden are used for both breakfasts at the inn as well as at the restaurant that is situated on the grounds. Disc golf, bocce ball, horseshoe pits, and other yard games can be found outside and are available for patrons to use.
Inside the inn, there are six rooms available for visitors to reserve throughout the year. Five of the rooms have queen beds, while the other unit, The Rebecca Room, has a full bed. The Rebecca Room also features a desk and a mini fridge. Talia, one of the owners, tries to make The Rebecca Room more suitable for business travelers or students staying at the establishment. Each room has an ensuite bathroom, all with a standup shower except for The Annie Laurie Room, which has a claw foot tub and a shower. The suites are located throughout both of the two stories in the home, with a wheelchair-accessible room available on the first floor.
Aside from the private rooms, there is a common area called The Study where guests can congregate.The room is used as both a common room for those staying overnight at the inn as well as a waiting area for the restaurant connected to the bed and breakfast. Inside the study are various games that can be played by guests, plus books ranging from historical fiction to novels to history books that patrons are welcome to borrow during their stay. The games in The Study include a chess board and a poker deck.
The restaurant located inside the Babcock House Bed and Breakfast Inn is open for dinner service Wednesday through Saturday, and brunch service on Sunday. The goal of the restaurant is to provide as many "farm to table," dishes as possible, and to use "fresh seasonal ingredients," according to Talia. In an effort to reach these goals, the menu of the establishment changes approximately three times a year to provide dishes with seasonally available ingredients. The main food style of the restaurant is southern food and creole dishes.
In addition to the restaurant, the inn also provides breakfast daily to its overnight guests. The meal features two courses, a fruit dish and a hot dish, that change each morning. Coffee and tea are also served during breakfast. Due to the fact that Charles and Talia, the owners of the inn, cure bacon, ham, and corn beef on the property, many of the breakfast items may feature these meats, and produce grown on the grounds. Some of the fruit courses that have been served in the past include strawberries and cream, watermelon drizzled with molasses and feta cheese, and sauteed apples with honey and cinnamon. Hot dishes generally include meat cured on the property with eggs, such as bacon and eggs with stone ground grits, corn beef hash with eggs and toast, frittatas, or omelets. Talia says that they can accommodate food allergies and sensitivities if they are notified in advance.
While staying at the bed and breakfast, the owners hope guests can feel "at home, comfortable, and looked after." They strive to create an environment where patrons can relax and have a peaceful stay. To foster that atmosphere, there are multiple policies in place that visitors must abide by. The owners state that the most crucial guideline for those staying at the inn and those eating at the restaurant is to be "respectful of each other," and understand that the business is "a family place." In order to allow families at the establishment, children must be "well-behaved," according to Talia, one of the owners. Additionally, "well-behaved dogs," are allowed at the restaurant on the outdoor deck.
Those who have stayed previous at the inn comment in reviews on the cleanliness of the establishment, as well as the quality of food served in the restaurant and at breakfast, and the hospitality of the staff. One former patron of the establishment said that it was a "good size room with a private bathroom. The staff was very friendly. Breakfast on both days was good too. Worth stopping by for brunch or dinner if you are in the area." The bed and breakfast is open year-round, with the exception of the week of Christmas and a week around the Fourth of July. According to Talia, the most popular time of year for the inn is fall due to the changing leaves in the area.
Across the street from the bed and breakfast is a middle school, and one of the owners reports that the establishment is within walking distance of Main Street and the historical area of town. Many attractions in the surrounding town are historical monuments such as the American Civil War Museum and Appomattox Court House National Park. Another area of interest for some guests may be Wolfbane Productions, a theater group that performs and hosts a renaissance fair annually. Talia also notes that, besides the restaurant located at Babcock House Bed and Breakfast Inn, some local dining options include The Taco Wagon and El Cazador.
Charles and Talia have been running Babcock House Bed and Breakfast Inn for the past seven years. The bed and breakfast, as well as the restaurant, have been in operation since 1996. Talia says that even before they purchased the business, she loved entertaining people in her home, hosting dinner parties, and being hospitable. She says that she wanted to "find something you love and learn how to make money at it." She additionally notes that running the bed and breakfast "felt natural" to her and that her husband has experience in the culinary industry. Charles has been working with food since he was 12, as his parents owned a catering business. Although he did not attend culinary school, Charles has "worked his way up," through the industry and has trained some staff at their current restaurant in a similar way, according to Talia.
The home that is now the bed and breakfast was originally built in 1884. From that time until 1996, it functioned as a private residence. In 1908, the outdoor kitchen on the property burnt down, and a new addition was added to the house to have an interior kitchen. There was also an apartment added to the home for an extended family member to live in. After the family that first owned the house sold the grounds, the Babcock family took up residence. When Annie Laurie, who one of the rooms is named after, passed away, the home was sold again and became a bed and breakfast. When the building was purchased, there were multiple renovation projects performed. They reconfigured the rooms so that each unit could have a private bathroom, the plaster walls were removed and replaced with drywall, and the side porch was converted into a sunroom. There was also owner quarters added to the grounds, separate from the main house.
Since the time Charles and Talia took ownership in 2015, they have renovated areas of the property as well. They covered the deck that is used by the restaurant, remodeled one of the upstairs bathrooms, and did various projects with the gardens and yard. In the future, they hope to add more vegetable gardens so that they can provide more items to the restaurant.
250 Oakleigh Avenue
Appomattox, Virginia 24522
United States
Bed and Breakfast
Charles and Talia Clusman
