Cape May is known across the country for its tastefully done and highly maintained bed & breakfast inns. CapeMay.com thought it would be insightful to get the answers to some basic questions from every innkeeper in town. The eight inns represented here are the first group to be interviewed.
Roseanne Baker and Barbara Preminger
King’s Cottage,
9 Perry Street
Roseanne Baker & Barbara Preminger
Barbara, how long have you been an innkeeper?
This will be my fifth summer
Roseanne, how long have you been an innkeeper?
I’m starting my eighth summer
What did you do before?
Barbara: Different things. I did some modeling in New York. I was a buyer for high end specialty stores like Nan Duskin in Philadelphia and when we moved to Cape May in 1986 my husband Dan and I owned a guest house for a while.
Roseanne: My husband and I had a working farm in Winchester, Tennessee and I was a department manager for a grocery store.
Why did you become an innkeeper?
Barbara: I had wanted to be an innkeeper when I first moved to Cape May full time. In fact my husband Dan and I looked at the Kings Cottage in 1989. I had an opportunity to become an owner at that time but the building was in such disrepair that I turned it down. My friends used to always tell me I’d make a perfect innkeeper because I love hospitality. That’s the secret of good innkeeping, you really have to love what you do, because you do it seven days a week.
Roseanne: It was a business opportunity.
Why did you pick Cape May?
Barbara: Dan and I were city people. We lived in Center City Philadelphia but visited Cape May often and in fact bought a summer home here. We moved here full time because we decided Cape May had the perfect environment for us – the feel of the country plus all the things we loved about living in the city – the theater and especially the restaurants. When Barbara needed a partner five years ago, I realized that we had looked at the Kings Cottage before. The difference this time was the renovation. I’d still be working on the house if we had bought it in ’89.
Roseanne: We worked the numbers and they worked better here.
What do you like best about Cape May?
Barbara: I guess I’d have to go back to my original reason for moving here…the fact that we have the best of both worlds. We have nature, the beaches, a country atmosphere and yet we have the things that make a cosmopolitan area.
Roseanne: The friendships that I’ve made.
Toby and Andy Fontaine
Bayberry Inn
223 Perry Street.
Owners: Toby and Andy Fontaine
Toby, how long have you and Andy been innkeepers?
Six years.
What did you do before?
We had our own businesses. Andy was in carpentry and kitchen design and I helped him.
Why did you become innkeepers?
We enjoy meeting people and having people over. And it’s something we can do together. Also, we wanted to be available for our son Ryan who at the time was 6-years old.
Why did you pick Cape May?
We never looked anywhere else. My husband and I both grew up in Cape May County. We love everything about Cape May. It’s very comfortable here.
What do you like best about Cape May?
The fact that you can see the sun rise and set over the water.
Mary Ann and Jay Gorrick
Inn at the Park
1002 Washington Street.
Owners: Mary Ann and Jay Gorrick.
Mary Ann, how long have you and Jay been innkeepers?
Five and a half years.
What did you do before?
I was a 7th grade science teacher and Jay was an IBM systems analyst.
Why did you become innkeepers?
We always wanted to do it. Then I had health problems and had to retire from teaching very quickly.
Why did you pick Cape May?
We took the Inn Deep Workshop (sponsored by the Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts). We traveled as far south as Savannah, Ga., Virginia, North Carolina, and Cape May. We kept coming back to Cape May. It had everything we wanted. It’s close to family. I can walk to everything and we love the beach.
What do you like best about Cape May?
I love the people that we meet. I love our guests. That’s the really wonderful part about Cape May – the people, the beaches, the Jazz Festival, Jazz Vespers (at the First Presbyterian Church on Hughes), and the fact that we can walk to everything.
John and Lisa Matusiak
The Bacchus Inn
710 Columbia Ave. and
The Brass Bed Inn
719 Columbia Ave.
Owners: John and Lisa Matusiak
Lisa? How long have you and John been innkeepers?
Four years at the Bacchus and one and a half years at The Brass Bed.
What did you do before?
I was in computers. I worked for a pharmaceutical company. My husband owned his own business.
We fell into it really. We were looking for an investment property and found a great buy. John’s family owned a hotel in Wildwood Crest so he had some experience in the hospitality business and we thought we’d give a shot.
Why did you pick Cape May?
We love Cape May. John and I met here. We got engaged here and we were married here.
What do you like best about Cape May?
The quaintness, the charm and the uniqueness of Cape May.
Anna Marie and Doug McMain
The Queen Victoria
102 Ocean Street
Owners: Anna Marie and Doug McMain.
Anna Marie, how long have you and Doug been innkeepers?
It will be two years in May.
What did you do before?
We were both in the computer industry for 20 years. We each had our own business.
Why did you become innkeepers?
We always thought of ourselves as innkeepers. When we found the Queen Victoria was for sell we fell in love.
Why did you pick Cape May?
Cape May has everything we love. We love the beach and we love old homes. The inn is year round and that was very important to us. We love the fact that we are open everyday.
What do you like best about Cape May?
The beautiful beaches.
Bonnie and Lance Pontin
John Wesley Inn
30 Gurney Street
Owners: Bonnie and Lance Pontin
Bonnie, how long have you and Lance been innkeepers?
We just celebrated our first year March 17th.
What did you do before?
I was a teacher and my husband was a salesman and still is.
Why did you become an innkeeper?
My mother-in-law has a small B&B in the Florida Keys and I’ve helped her over the last several years. I like the interaction.
Why did you pick Cape May?
We’re originally from the New Jersey area. My parents always had a summer home in Normandy Beach so we like being near the sea. We like the quaintness of Cape May and we lived in Arkansas for a number of years and I wanted to go home.
Why do you like best about Cape May?
The people. I enjoy the locals and my innkeeper friends. I can see why they’re innkeepers. They are a very warm and caring lot.
Leslie Valenza
The Mooring
801 Stockton Avenue
Owner: Leslie Valenza
Leslie, how long have you been an innkeeper?
Since 1993. Thirteen years.
What did you do before?
I was the program manager for a defense company in Los Angeles, CA.
Why did you become an innkeeper?
Lack of imagination. Our company was downsizing and I was looking for a similar job in the commercial sector but realized that I’d have to take pay cut and I didn’t want to do that. I was looking for something else to do. It’s not that as a little girl, I dreamed of becoming an innkeeper. It just looked like it might be a fun thing to do. I had a five year plan and then thought I’d leave. Thirteen years later I’m still here. It’s not a bad way to make a living.
Why did you pick Cape May?
I was looking at various places and this one happened to work for me.
What do you like best about Cape May?
The beach. I like being near the water…and the restaurants.
Don Schweikert
Saltwood House
28 Jackson Street
Owner: Don Schweikert
Don, how long have you been an innkeeper?
I bought Saltwood House in 1994, so 12 years.
What did you do before?
I was an antiques dealer in Los Angeles.
Why did you become an innkeeper?
I enjoy people. I love old houses. I love the beach. I thought I could combine those two things by having a business where I could rent rooms. And I wanted to keep my antiques. I was tired of seeing them go out the door. As an innkeeper, the guests leave. The antiques stay.
Why did you pick Cape May?
I wanted to open a B&B in an area that already had B&Bs. I couldn’t do that and stay in L.A. It would have been like inventing the wheel. I’d taken the Inn Deep Workshop and I was also looking at Ashland, Oregon. But economically it made sense to come to Cape May. I liked being near the beach and I liked the fact that Cape May had established B&Bs.
What do you like best about Cape May?
The small town atmosphere. I like walking to the post office and running into people I know. Cape May has “Our Town” feel to it and I miss it when I’m in Florida during the winter.
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