BURNSVILLE, N.C. – It’s Sunday morning, and the food just keeps on coming at the Terrell House Inn: pancakes with blueberries plus bacon and coffee. It’s all hot and fresh, just like the fruit served to guests of this historic home, lying less than a mile from the heart of the town square of Burnsville, N.C.

Mike and Laura Hoskins make it a point to make guests feel welcome at their home. But, it’s not like it used to be. And, well, perhaps any guest should be glad of that.That is, the rooms named “Ann” and “Patricia” once were not bedrooms at all, but screened-in porches.

And, wait – we’re not even onto the subject of the bathroom. –  ‘A real challenge’

You see, this is more than just another bed-and-breakfast. The Terrell House was once a dormitory for the Stanley McCormick School in the early 1900s, a place where young ladies came to live in this small mountain town.

“There were probably 12 or 13 girls – and one bathroom,” Mike Hoskins said, grinning. “It must have been a real challenge.”

In 1927, the Stanley McCormick School became the Carolina New College but soon closed in 1931 during the Great Depression. After that, what school bulletins had called a “Cottage for Young Women” became a private home. Then, finally, the 4,500-square-foot structure was converted into a bed-and-breakfast, thanks to renovations conducted in the 1990s by former owners John and Pat Terrell.

Today, overnight guests can choose from one of six spacious rooms – all with separate baths – in the renovated home along Burnsville’s Robertston Street, where the Terrell House faces the Stanley McCormick School’s former dining hall, a brick building now used as a Mason Lodge. Continue reading Bristol Harold Courier – Feb. 27, 2014 →