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and cottages] and do everything. My personal opinion is
that it would be a fabulous bed and breakfast again. Every
time I’m there the house looks like it’s still a bed and
breakfast, like you could start it again tomorrow.”
It’s early days, but inquiries so far lead Stone to
believe that whoever buys the 10-bedroom, 10-bath
mansion likely will run it as a B&B.
The grand old home nearly defies description, featur-
ing a stunning wrap-around gingerbread front porch and
two-story tower. A 12-color Victorian-era color scheme
brings out the artistry and craft of another time, a time
before mass production and nail guns. The elaborate
woodwork and fretwork throughout is ornate yet charm-
ing. The appointments and furnishings are warm and
correct. The oldest swimming pool in Weatherford is
around back. Oh, and there’s a beaut of a ballroom
upstairs.
“The Buttolphs are extraordinary people,” said Stone.
“They collected many, many antiques in Europe and
brought them all back to put in this house.”
The Buttolphs’ journey to Weatherford and a second
career in the B&B industry began in Vietnam where they
met, both in their second tours of duty, he with the Army
and she with the American Red Cross. They left Vietnam
in 1970. All totaled, they spent 25 years in various over-
seas locations. He retired from the military after 36 years
service.
“One of our assignments was four years in the
Netherlands,” Buttolph explained. “I was with NATO
there. And as a result we would, every once in a while,
go to a Dutch or German bed and breakfast. And we just
liked the concept of living within somebody’s house,
especially in the Netherlands.”
Back in the States and facing retirement, during
their last year in the service at Fort Sam Houston in San
Antonio, Shay spent copious amounts of time on the
telephone with realtors across the Lone Star State. The
Buttolphs were in the market for a Victorian retirement
home. On weekends they visited towns across Texas
looking at properties.
“We looked at easily over a hundred Victorian hous-
es,” Dan Buttolph recalled.
“A couple of them that we looked at were bed and break-
fasts, and we said, ‘Whoa! That might be a good second
career.’”
The Buttolphs found their Victorian gem here in
Weatherford, and in 1992 made it their home. Ten
months later, April 1, 1993, St. Botolph Inn opened for
business. They had never stayed in an American B&B.
“So our concept was strictly what we wanted, what
we thought a bed and breakfast should be like,” Buttolph
said. “The bed and breakfast industry in the United States
really didn’t begin until the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. I think
there were only two books out on it in ’92 when we
bought the place.”
The Buttolphs wanted their inn to have a Christian