On the Market: B&B in Brandywine Valley for $1.895M

On the Market profiles homes for sale in the Philadelphia region.

For Glenn and Ashley Mon, their transition into operating a Bed and Breakfast was nothing short of abrupt.

"We moved in here Labor Day weekend 2001," Glenn Mon said. "Ten days later it was 9/11. We got a lot of calls from folks in Manhattan. That's when we started taking guests."

Glenn, who was working for a management company at the time, and Ashley, who was an antique dealer, began operating the Hamanassett Bed & Breakfast in the Brandywine Valley part-time. They would later make it their full-time careers.

Glenn said he and his wife had been searching for a place to start their own Bed and Breakfast for a while, but once they found Hamanassett, "everything fell together." The couple moved from a private residence a few miles away.

When the Mons purchased the Delaware County property, Glenn said the home had "good bones" but needed a fair amount of upgrading. They were only the third family to live there in nearly a century-and-a-half. The main stone manor house had been built in 1856 for Charles Meigs, a prominent doctor at the time.

While the tragic events of 9/11 prompted them to quickly get the place up and running, the Mons would take their time in establishing their company and making the place their own.

"Over the past 13 years, we made significant improvements and renovations to the property," Glenn said.

For the main 8,200-square-foot home, the Mons completely redid the interior and updated all the electrical wiring.

"We gutted the kitchen," Glenn said, "That was one of our major projects. The kitchen that was here was not a very efficient design, it was pretty dated and antiquated. We now have a chef's kitchen with a butler's pantry that connects to the dining room."

They also redid the sunroom on the first floor, created a pantry and wet bar on the second floor, and enlarged a bedroom on the third floor.

Also on the property are two cottages, a barn and an original stone outhouse.

In the backyard, the couple added in a life-size chess set, a stone terrace, and a Koi pond with a waterfall.

Glenn said the majority of visitors are from the Northeast, but they have had guests from all over the world, including China, India and Australia. The residence can sleep 24 people at once.

Hamanassett has hosted weddings and political fundraisers, among other notable meetings and events.

Now after spending some time establishing their business – and being featured in dozens of publications – the Mons are ready to move on. They want to move to a smaller residence where the two of them and their two cats can live comfortably. They have put the Bed and Breakfast on the market for $1.895 million.

"We've been able to preserve this wonderful residence and expose it to a lot of people as our guests," Glenn said.

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