Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Mares.
Hi Dana, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are Scott & Dana Mares, and we have dreamed of owning and operating a Bed and Breakfast ever since we stayed in a lovely B&B for our honeymoon on Whidbey Island in Washington state almost 40 years ago! We have stayed in various Bed and Breakfasts for each of our anniversaries and each time we would say to ourselves “One day we want to do this!” and one day finally came in April of 2017 when we purchased our current home. Not only did we fall in love with the 1847 all brick historic house we also absolutely love the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge mountains right outside our door. We are situated on almost 8 acres right here in the city limits of Waynesboro. You feel as though you are out in the country but are in fact just a couple of miles from historic downtown Waynesboro. We truly love everything about living here in the Shenandoah Valley!
It took about 1 1/2 years of hard work to get the house ready to receive guests. There was plumbing to fix, electrical to update, walls to put up, lot’s of painting and decorating and quite a bit of landscaping to do. My husband Scott and I did as much of the work ourselves as we could. With old houses it’s never just a quick fix, there is always something else that pops up! There was also plenty of paper work and applications to fill out for the city! We were finally able to host our first guests in October of 2018 in the only room we had finished, the Blue Room. We have since added 2 more B&B rooms, the Red Room and the Gold Room. We named the rooms using the general color theme of each room so guests could remember better which room they stayed in when they returned for another visit in the future. And we have been blessed to have many return guests over the last 8 years!
In 2023 we finished renovating a building on site that the previous owners had used for their pool house. Unfortunately, they filled in the pool before we purchased the house. The “pool house” was constructed in the 1960’s using materials from another historic house in Waynesboro called Rose Hall that the city demolished to put up a shopping center. All the windows, beams, and brick for the flooring and fireplace were taken and reused in this little building. We moved into the “pool house”, which we now call the cottage, in the fall of 2023. Moving ourselves to the cottage allowed us to rent out the entire main house. We’ve hosted many families, bridal parties, and friend get-away weekends!
The area where the original pool was located was such an eye sore in the summer months as the grass would not grow on top of the concrete pool decking. So we began another project in which we dug up all the concrete decking and hauled it off to the dump. We then graded the ground and put sod down along with some crushed stone pathways to create a secluded garden area. I have been adding plants yearly and it’s coming along nicely.
In September of 2024 we officially launched our venue, The Gardens at Heritage Hill. We offer our guests the use of the main house as well as a large event tent and tons of outdoor space around the gardens. My husband milled the wood himself from a pine tree that fell on our potting shed to make farm tables for the venue. He also milled the wood to make fencing around my expanded vegetable garden. We love being able to use the natural resources around the property to make new things! We’ve hosted a number of beautiful weddings, family celebrations, bridal showers, plant swaps and even a makers market. We look forward to hosting even more events!
I serve our B&B guests a full homemade breakfast each morning using local ingredients as much as possible. I especially love being able to walk out to our garden and pick fresh veggies or herbs for frittatas or using some of our own honey for yogurt parfaits. We also have chickens so all our eggs are farm fresh! I don’t cook breakfast for our whole house rental guests but I always leave a cookie jar full of homemade cookies. I love using my God-given talents to serve others and hopefully make them feel right home each time they stay with us.
Heritage Hill is a beautiful place to call home and we love being able to share this amazing property with our guests!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The manual labor has been the hardest part. Hauling stuff up and down the stairs, crawling through the attic, climbing ladders to paint the 12ft high walls, installing lots tile in the bathrooms, digging up enormous old boxwood bushes, digging trenches, actually it has been a lot digging!
Another struggle was dealing with the process of getting a business license from the city and then having to do it all again for the venue portion.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My husband still works full time but my job is running the B&B and event space. We specialize in providing excellent hospitality to our guests. I am most proud of the consistent 5 star reviews we receive. Our location offers something many other B&B’s in town cannot, expansive views of the mountains and tons of space to walk around and relax.
How do you think about luck?
We do not believe in luck. We believe that God has blessed us in this endeavor and has provided all that we needed to make this business a success. We are truly grateful for His presence in our lives!
Pricing:
- Room rentals start at $165 per night
- Whole house rentals start at $550 per night
- Event/Weddings range from $350 – $55o0
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heritagehillbnb.com
- Instagram: heritagehillbnb
- Facebook: heritagehillbnb
