The Inn is Out

 

Every so often I lament the loss of our local blogging expert in commercial real estate. This is a story he would have had all the background knowledge of, plus likely ideas for its future. 

The Inn at Peralynna, which has always seemed to me to be a sort of mysterious luxury location tucked away on Route 108 across from the rural-feeling fields of Clarks Elioak Farm, is to be put at auction. It has definitely been on my list of places I “wanted to go but it looked too expensive.”  I guess I need to take more risks in life or, at least, start to make a little more money, because I am sad I will never have had this unique local experience.

I went looking in the news for more background information on the history of this place, and I could only find one article by Lindsey McPherson involving Councilwoman Mary K. Sigaty and neighborhood objections from 2012.

Council moves to resolve Peralynna Inn zoning dispute 

I feel as though issues between the owners and the surrounding neighborhood stretched beyond this point but this is where I’m not an expert in land use, zoning, commercial real estate, or searching the Baltimore Sun web site at five in the morning.  I did take a peek at the WordBones archive and was not disappointed.

Purely anecdotally, my take on the Inn at Peralynna was that it started out small and grew way beyond what folks had expected. Aside from that, they seem to be have been operating continuously all this time, sponsored dinner dances and themed events, and racked up some area hospitality awards. They’ve maintained an active social media account on Twitter. They’re still going strong on their Facebook account, as well.

I stumbled across this - - puff piece? - - in the Washington Post Lifestyle section from 2014 which is so deliciously over the top that it might come close to the experience of actually being there. 

I Spy the Columbia Inn at Peralynna 

The auction announcement suggests suitability for assisted living. I’m imagining any chunk of land in this town that has not heretofore been available is going to stir up a variety of potential uses, but, of course it does matter what it is zoned for, so, we shall see. After reading the Lifestyle piece the idea of spending my golden years immersed in a setting of guilty indulgences seems all too tempting.