Inn mixes Colonial charm with modern luxury
MONTGOMERY — It’s surprising to hear that many folks still drive by the sprawling estate tucked away on Horsham Road assuming it’s a private paradise, when it’s been a haven for weary travelers, brides and grooms, and casual and fine diners for more than 30 years now.
“A lot of people think it’s private property and don’t even realize we have a restaurant here, or they think it’s just for events, like weddings,” said Richard Allman, proprietor of Joseph Ambler Inn, who bought the private residence in 1983 and, defying F. Scott Fitzgerald’s claim that American lives have no second acts, created a brilliant renaissance for both himself and the venerated property.
Allman’s roll-up-your-sleeves ethic not only transformed the domain once owned by William Penn in 1682 into an enchanting country inn, restaurant and pub, but welcomed a couple of historic homes destined for the wrecking ball to the Colonial-themed party as well.
When it was all said and done, in nearly 20 years’ time the onetime Chestnut Hill restaurateur and insurance man had crafted a flawless 12-acre setting in Montgomeryville that could arguably rival the most bucolic retreat anywhere else in the country.
One of the earliest owners of the estate, Joseph Ambler, a wheelwright by trade, inspired the carriage in the logo of the business that now bears his name, which evolved from a humble 12-room hostelry to an award-winning inn with 52 lodgings.
The organic story of the Joseph Ambler Inn unfolded so naturally and unconditionally it was clear that Allman was following his heart in the process and not some prudent advice he’d stumbled on in a bed and breakfast owner’s handbook.
In 1997, and again in 2003, he rescued two nearby residences from certain destruction in the hands of developers and had them imported from a few miles away to keep company with the existing three buildings — the Co- reybeck, the Farmhouse and the Barn.
“I anticipated that a developer would come along and bulldoze them down as they did to so many residences around here,” Allman said. “I came here with a love of old buildings and some hands-on knowhow to maintain them and fix them and make them nice. So, rather than see these beautiful houses bulldozed, I thought, ‘Well, let me move them here and we’ll have more rooms for our guests.’ ”
True to the historic grace that embraces every nook and cranny of the property, Allman named the first restored newcomer to the Joseph Ambler fold The Thomas Wilson House, after six generations of a family that helped develop Montgomery Township from 1778 to 1892.
The 2003 rescue, a painstaking, 16-hour move of a 1784 structure, was christened The John Roberts House, after Joseph Ambler’s son-in-law, and is now a warmly inviting commingling of Old World charm and modernday niceties that features spa tubs in each of the 15 guest rooms, as well as Wi-Fi.
Everywhere you look in any of the distinctively disparate buildings there are authentic links to a past that now seems to have been setting the stage for the property’s apparently inevitable destiny: exposed stone fireplaces, hardwood floors, Windsor chairs, period furniture, and nudges to your sense of whimsy, like Allman’s collection of miniature chairs and Meissen china.
Sporting such historically significant names as the Ambler Room, Foulke Room, Pearl Buck, Pennypacker and Grumblethorpe, “every room here is different,” said Allman.
These days, Allman is happy to note that the three aspects of the inn’s mercantile durabil- ity — weddings, lodging and food and beverage — share evenly in its profitable success.
“That works out great, because if one goes bad, you still have the other two,” he said. “But our rooms are booked most nights of the week, we always have weddings scheduled, and more people are finding that the restaurant is a great place for lunch or dinner.”
One of the most recent additions here is the JPub, next to the Barn restaurant, which specializes in casual fare and offers a Happy Hour weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m., and Seafood Night every Thursday, while featuring a 52-inch flat screen TV and slate fireplace.
Tackling much of the work himself, Allman is continually upgrading the nuances that don’t intrude on the unique character of the inn — new carpet here, new bathrooms there — with an eye to maintaining a relevant edge against the competition.
But for a hostelry in a league of its own, there really is no competition.
A couple of mega hotels that sprouted up across the street haven’t begun to intimidate Allman’s innkeeping sensibilities.
“We have all the amenities of any large brandnew hotel, except that we are in a very private setting,” he said, greeting guests at The Thomas Wilson House on their way out for a morning stroll. “If you want a brand new cookie-cutter hotel, you go to them … or you come here for something that’s really special.”