The Stone House B&B to close Dec. 31

<span>The Stone House Bed and Breakfast in Chester will be closing its doors as a business on Dec. 31.</span>

<span>Owner Sandra Starr announced Sept. 30 her intent to retire from the innkeeper profession and will be The Stone House's "one permanent resident" upon her retirement.</span>

<span>"The average tenure of an innkeeper is five to seven years and you get burned out," Starr said. "It's been 14 years and when I announced it on Facebook, some of the people said 'One more time.'"</span>

<span>The Stone House was built in 1846 as the First Presbyterian Church. The church was converted into a residence by E.A Crippen and Mary B. Crippen after lightning struck and destroyed its bell tower in the early 1920s.</span>

<span>It remained a private residence until Starr bought it in 1998.</span>

<span>"It took 22 months of intense renovation," Starr said. "My first guest was interesting because she grew up here and lives in North Carolina."</span>

<span>Starr opened The Stone House in May 2000 with three bedrooms, a sitting parlor complete with fireplace, an upper and lower-level porch and two and a half bathrooms.</span>

<span>"When I bought it, it was advertised as six to eight bedrooms," said Starr, who added the number of available rooms was cut back to two last summer. "We knocked out a lot of walls to make it four bedrooms."</span>

<span>Starr said she chose the date for tax reasons and has some interesting stories about the guests who have come and gone over the years.</span>

<span>"On Oct. 11, we've got biological sisters coming and they have no reason to come back to Chester other than to visit me," Starr said. "People have stopped here who have previously been guests and they stopped by just to say hello."</span>

<span>Starr estimated over 2,000 guests have stayed at The Stone House in 14 years. On tripadvisor.com, The Stone House had 16 reviews - all of them positive.</span>

<span>Ten of the reviews came from couples.</span>

<span>"It seems like everyone has a story at the breakfast table," she said. "There's a lot of repeat guests, so you consider them friends, not just guests."</span>

<span>Starr said the decision to close the bed and breakfast wasn't an easy one and she had been thinking about it for at least a year. </span>

<span>"When the time comes when I'm physically unable to maintain it, I hope it would go to someone who will," she said. "It will always be 'The Stone House,' I hope."</span>

<span> </span>