The Shafer Baillie Mansion Bed and Breakfast is located on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington. It is one block south of Volunteer Park. The mansion has four stories inside and eight rooms for guests to stay in. The inn is available for visitors to reserve the entire mansion for events such as weddings. For breakfast, the owners serve an extended continental breakfast with various options. The current owners aim to provide a welcoming and comfortable environment for the patrons. They are the second owners of the estate since it became a public bed and breakfast and the sixth owners since the building was built in 1914. They have remodeled the mansion (which adopts a Tudor Revival style) since buying it to try to bring a modern, comfortable feel to the property while still maintaining the history of the building.
Located one block south of Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill in Seattle, Washington, sits the Shafer Baillie Mansion Bed and Breakfast. The Tudor Revival style mansion sits on about a quarter of an acre with a hedge around the property and a gated entrance outside. Inside the gates, there is a garden and walkway, a stone terrace, two marble lions at the bottom of the front stairs that lead to the covered porch entryway, and tables for guests to spend time outside.
Inside the mansion, there are four stories with a basement, the main floor with space for common rooms, and a second and third floor where most of the bedrooms are located. The establishment's interior is populated with an assortment of rugs, antiques, furniture, and oak woodworking. The main floor has a living room, sunroom, library, and dining room. There are games, books, and a baby grand piano for the guests’ enjoyment on the main floor as well. There are different rooms for visitors to choose from while they stay at the inn. Of the rooms, two are suites, three are queen-sized rooms, and the other three are bedrooms created where the mansion’s third-floor ballroom used to sit.
The amenities for guests in the Shafer Baillie Mansion include free Wi-Fi, free coffee and tea that the inn stocks frequently, and complimentary snacks. Also included are shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion, along with hairdryers, ironing boards, and irons. There is also air conditioning throughout the mansion, and for patrons with cars, there is free street parking outside the property.
The bed and breakfast, located on Capitol Hill, serves an extended continental breakfast for its guests. There is coffee, tea, and orange juice available to drink and three different types of bread: croissants, bagels, and multi-grain bread. There are cheeses, salmon, prosciutto ham, yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, jams, and vegetarian hot dishes for the patrons to choose from for their breakfast. The inn tries to cater to whatever dietary needs visitors have.
Nearby the mansion, there is an assortment of attractions that include Volunteer Park and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The mansion is also a 15-minute drive from the sights of downtown Seattle. Amongst the many restaurants within walking distance from the mansion are the Rom Mai Thai restaurant and Monsoon Seattle, a Vietnamese restaurant.
Mark Mayhle and Ana Lena Melka are the owners of Shafer Baillie Mansion and aim to help guests feel comfortable and welcome. Throughout the day, they attempt to connect with the inn's visitors as much as the visitors want. They try to be available for any questions and help they may need. Their policies include no smoking, no pets, and quiet time by 9 pm or 10 pm at the latest. The motto for the inn is “location, ambiance, and hospitality.”
The mansion is open year-round and is available to do weddings and events. Guests have the option to rent the entire house and do a group event there on the property. The most common visitors of the bed and breakfast are older guests, parents, and family members visiting friends and family in the area, but solo travelers as well as families can be accommodated. Repeat guests and tourists are common at the mansion as well.
One guest said about the bed and breakfast, “we really enjoyed our stay at the Shafer Baillie Mansion. Host Ana was kind and greeted us every morning at the breakfast they put out. The mansion was in walking proximity to restaurants/bars in Capitol Hill.”
The current owners, Mark Mayhle and Ana Lena Melka, bought the Shafer Baillie Mansion in 2004 and opened it as a bed and breakfast in 2006. Since buying it, they have rewired and replumbed the house, added air conditioning and a heat pump for the top two floors, repaired the wood on the outside of the building, and repainted the mansion. They’ve also refinished floors, recarpeted the stairs, and built the terrace outside. The mansion’s ballroom was turned into three new bedrooms for the guests on the third floor. These renovations were made with the intent of bringing a modern, comfortable feel to the inn while still maintaining the history of the building. Before the Mark and Ana Lena owned the estate, Erv Olsen had owned it and made it a bed and breakfast in 1979.
The mansion was first built in 1914 by Samuel Loeb, who was the owner of the Independent Brewing Company in Seattle. He later moved and sold the estate to Alexander Baillie in 1918. Baillie, who was one of the people the mansion is named after, was a worker at a shipping company and is credited for bringing golf to the northwest. He owned the mansion from 1918 until 1928, when he sold the property to Julius Shafer. Shafer, who the mansion is also named after, lived at the mansion for 25 years before selling it to Burell and Emma Johnson in 1952. The Johnsons sold it to Erv Olsen in the 1960s. Olsen then made the mansion a bed and breakfast in 1979 and owned it until Mark and Ana Lena, the current owners, bought it in 2004. After owning the property for two years, Mark and Ana Lena decided to open it back up as a bed and breakfast in 2006 and it has stayed that way ever since.
907 14th Ave E
Seattle, Washington 98112
United States
Bed and Breakfast
Mark Mayhle and Ana Lena Melka
Erv Olsen
