The Beginning

Start with an old house. Add a charming town on the shores of Penn Cove on Whidbey Island. Add two classic underachievers with great people skills who stumbled into the charming town and 11 years later found themselves the unlikely innkeepers of the old house.

This is the story of the Lovejoy Inn.

It all started in 1886 when Howard B. Lovejoy was contracted by Rev. Ernest Watson to build him a house in Coupeville, Washington.

Here’s a photo of Watson:

The house was not grandiose or extravagant. This is the earliest photo we have of the house.

There weren’t many houses in town at that time, a few nearby, then mostly pastures, farmland and cows.

Watson got quite a deal on the house as he ended up marrying Lovejoy’s sister Nellie. Here’s a photo of Nellie Lovejoy Watson:

They were married on Christmas Eve in 1886. How nice for her to move into a brand new house that her brother built.

In the past 123 years many (?) owners have expanded, remodeled, painted, carpeted, wallpapered and fixed up this house. We are still trying to figure out what came when. Here are a few photos we have of the additions:

Over the past 2 years that we have owned the house, we are beginning to understand that the beauty of the Lovejoy Inn is not found in its originality, but in its “charm” – read funkiness, uniqueness, location...and the stories of all its' inhabitants over the years.

More to come!

The 2 pictures below are the Lovejoy Inn today.