Meet Michelle Darnell | Bed and Breakfast Owner, Historian, Tea House Owner, and Special Event Coordiantor.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Darnell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
After working for the corporate world for years, I longed to get away from it and start working for myself. I was a recruiter for a corporate bank for over ten years when I decided to reach out on my own. I think the moment that came when the light turned on was at my ten year anniversary at the bank. Each milestone, the bank would give a special gift to mark you time with them. For my ten year milestone, I received an acrylic block with a floating logo paper weight. I sat there and held it in my hands looking it. In my mind, I was saying, “Is this what I am worth to them? Is this all that I can show for ten years of work?”

The answer was yes. I was nothing be a number to them. Yes, I had help people find employment with the bank. When I would call to offer them a job, they were so happy. But would they remember the work I put in to get them there? Would they remember me? The answer was no.

I wanted the work I did to mean something. I wanted it to be a passion that I was excited to be apart of. So I turned to something I truly loved, history. My grandmother had been a very grand southern lady and had taught me three things, entertaining, cooking and history. I had always wanted to be a bed and breakfast owner in a history home.

After ten month of searching, I found the house that needed me and that I needed. It was a very history property, a Virginia Landmark and the home was on the National Registry of Historic Homes. The vast amount of its history had been lost to time. But I would spend thousands of hours researching and recovering the history and bring it back.

After ten years of owning our bed and breakfast, I can say, the work I have done in the ten years out weights all that I did before. My legacy will be bring the history back and opening it to the public to visit and enjoy. I saved this house’s history and the house saved me. The acrylic block with a floating logo paper weight I threw in the trash.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We started our business, Darnell Hospitality LLC, Belle Grove Plantation in 2012. It wasn’t an instant business. We had to go through a lot to get the permitting and zoning completed and to start to pull things together. One of the most important things I learned during building our business is patience. I wanted everything to start now. But I had to learn that not all things happen when you say. Sometimes you need to wait and allow the correct one to reveal itself.

Building our business, I didn’t take the normal approach. I built our business using social media and word of mouth. We didn’t have a lot to invest to start. We had to work for every dollar. To start with, as I was starting the process of opening, I started writing a blog. This allowed us to build an audience, document our progress, and allowed others to feel like they were taking part in building it with us. I would ask questions about furniture to get opinions and suggestions, even though I knew what I wanted. By the time we moved into the property, we had a mast a following on our blog of 5,800 people and were viewed by 170 countries and 2,500 on our Facebook page. This is why our opening reservation on August 1, 2013 was not from Virginia, not even from America, It was from New Zealand. This made us an international business from the first day.

My view on challenges are simple. Imagine you have decided to go somewhere new. You jump into your car and head out. You are excited and can’t wait to get there. As you drive along, you run into a storm. High winds, buckets of rain, and thunder and lighting everywhere. You have two choices. You can stop and turn around and head back to where you came from. Or you can turn on the window shield wipers and make your way through the storm. I hate to say it, but it will storm when you are building your business and as you work your business. It comes down to attitude on when the trouble comes as to whether you will survive it or not.

We are not the usual bed and breakfast. We are a historic landmark, the birthplace of President James Madison. Belle Grove Plantation was established in 1670 and has seen many amazing American events. Before it was a plantation, it was a Native American settlement. From there it becomes a farm and private family home. The current home was built in 1791, expanded in 1839 and restored in 1997.

We have taken this beautiful 1791 mansion and 694 acre grounds and created a tourist destination. Being centrally located between Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond, our bed and breakfast provides a “hub” for tourist to stay and venture out to see the many sights. We provide four rooms, named after families that called Belle Grove “home”. Each room is decorated with antiques that match the time period the families were here.

But we aren’t just a bed and breakfast. We offer afternoon tea at 11am and 1pm, seven days a week. Our award-winning afternoon tea gives our guests two different flavors of homemade scones, served with real clotted cream and preserves or lemon curd, three different tea sandwiches, and three petite desserts. Each person has the choice of one pot of any of our Exclusive Belle Grove Plantation Tea Blends. All sixteen flavors offer a variety of flavors, both caffeinated and decaffeinated loose leaf blends.

We not only do private tea reservations, but offer public tea events that allows our guest a day of fun and a chance to dress up a bit. We offer the Titanic Tea, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Bridgerton Tea, Tea with Elvis (Our most popular), Wizard Tea, Not so Wicked Witch’s Tea Party, and a Chocolate Tea throughout the month of February. Both ladies and gentlemen come dressed to impress and have a great time being one of our “young at heart” kids.

We offer other special events, but private and public. Weddings at Belle Grove are the dreams of many brides. Our outside wedding area overlooking the Rappahannock River, where the sun sets each day. Combine the amazing sunsets with the beautiful star-filled sky, who wouldn’t fall in love with us. Our public event include festivals such as our Spirits Festival, a wine, distilled spirits with food and music. Or our Haunted Season, which guests will find our whole mansion turned into a carnival style Haunted House.

But we don’t forget about the history that was made here. In July, 2015, we established the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation that has a PRIME Mission of preserving, restoring, improving, maintaining, and education the public about Belle Grove and its amazing American history. Through the foundation, we have conducted archaeological digs, which last June 2023, we found what is thought to be part of the Native American settlement,. Created a Homeschool Series that we hold each season to bring homeschoolers to Belle Grove to learn about subjects that are related to us such as Colonial Life, River Life, Archaeology, Civil War, Enslavement, and James Madison.

Today, we continue to look for new events and things we can do to make a visit to Belle Grove fresh and exciting. Change is good. Embrace it and see what wonderful things come of it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend came to visit, of course we would stay at Belle Grove Plantation in King George, Virginia. But from here, we would venture out to visit Washington DC. See that historic sites, visit the White House, if I have enough notice, visit the Library of Congress, visit the Capital. But we wouldn’t just visit inside the city. We would head out to the outlining areas and see Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, and Old Towne Alexandria.

But its not all about the history, its also about the food! I am a chef by trade and I love to eat. We would head to Dupont Circle for some amazing Tuscan Italian at i Ricchi. Or hop the metro to head to China Town for a visit to Circa for some filet mignon sliders, four-cheese mac and cheese, and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Or you could combine food and history with a visit to Gatsby’s Tavern in Old Town Alexandria. There you are served hearty meals in a tavern setting. But best of all, the floor entertainment with John Douglas Hall will have you singing along.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our Supporters. From the beginning, we have had some pretty amazing supporters that have taken this journey with us. Ups or downs, they are there to provide support, volunteer, donate and give words of encouragement. We are strong today because others have held us up.

Website: https://www.bellegroveplantation.com/

Instagram: @BelleGroveVA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BelleGrovePlantationatPortConway

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAsqm39FmSHlS0sYUSYZHHA

Image Credits
Wedding photo – JB Photography Native American photo – Tyler Darnell Photography