Our Story
Paul & Mirlin Manshon · Your Innkeepers
A Table for Twenty Instead of Two Hundred
We spent decades working in some of the world's leading hospitality kitchens and hotels — the kind of properties where you learn what world-class service looks like from the inside. Between us, we have over thirty years of experience in fine dining, culinary arts, and guest relations at the highest level.
And then we chose this. Not a hotel with two hundred rooms and a staff of hundreds, but an 1847 mansion with eleven guest rooms, a kitchen where we cook breakfast ourselves, and a dining room table where we know every guest by name.
That was not a step down. It was a step toward what hospitality was always meant to be — personal, unhurried, and grounded in the kind of care that comes from actually living in the house alongside the people you are serving.
Paul & Mirlin
We came to Asheville from very different corners of the world, drawn together by a shared love for hospitality and a belief that the best guest experiences happen in intimate settings, not ballrooms.
Paul is a classically trained chef who spent his career in professional kitchens before deciding to bring that expertise to a table of twenty. Every morning, he prepares a four-course gourmet breakfast from scratch — not because a menu requires it, but because he genuinely loves the craft of feeding people well.
Mirlin is the other half of every detail you notice and many you do not — from the flowers in your room to the seamless flow of a morning where everything simply works. Together, we run this house the way we believe hospitality should feel: warm, genuine, and never rushed.
A House That Chose Us
When we first walked through The Reynolds Mansion, we were not looking for a project. We were looking for a home. But this house — built in 1847, one of fewer than ten pre-Civil War brick homes surviving in western North Carolina, listed on the National Register of Historic Places — this house had something to say.
It had survived nearly 180 years, the Civil War, storms, neglect, and multiple restorations. It needed people who understood both the weight of that history and the hospitality standards it deserved. We looked at each other and knew.
We bought it in 2019. Within months, the world shut down. Then came structural challenges, then Hurricane Helene. Through all of it, we rebuilt, restored, and reopened — because a house this remarkable does not get to disappear on our watch.
"The house has survived nearly 180 years. We intend to give it another 180."
Hospitality Is Personal
We remember what you like for breakfast. We know your name when you come downstairs in the morning. We ask about your day because we actually want to know how it went. This is not a script — it is the way we choose to live, and it shows in everything from the pillow on your bed to the final course on your plate.
"The Best Part Is the People"
"From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with unmatched hospitality. Paul went above and beyond in every way." Our guests tell us that the rooms are beautiful and the breakfast is extraordinary — but what they remember most is how they felt while they were here.
Read Guest ReviewsCome See for Yourself
We did not come to Asheville to run a business. We came to care for a house and the people who walk through its doors. Whether you are here for a weekend getaway, a week-long mountain retreat, or just one night to slow down and breathe — we are here to make sure your stay is something worth remembering.