An avenue of towering red maples serves as your welcoming committee at the North River Inn. Standing tall and stately, these sentinels guide you up the lane to the place you’ll call home during your stay. 
North River Inn has the unique quality in that the rooms are spread among three separate, substantial structures, each elegant and different from each other. This “diffusion” assures privacy, quiet and a variety of views and settings which they want to offer their quests.

     All rooms are furnished with 18th and 19th century family antiques, have private baths, air conditioning, telephones—and exquisite views of water or pastoral fields. The overall feeling is an “English country house”.
The Inn is located on the 17th century family estate, Toddsbury, one of the oldest in Virginia. The private home, Toddsbury, began in 1650 and is a National Trust Registered property and also a Virginia Historic Landmark. Most of the 100 acres of the Inn are under an historic easement, which protects the pastoral views and sense of early colonial Virginia history felt. 

     Owned by Mary and Breckinridge (Breck) Montague, they treat guests as they would like to be treated if they went to a special Inn: Seasonal treats waiting for guests when they arrive, freshly baked breads and pastries at breakfast, special recipes created with their cook, “turn-down” service in the evening, chocolates and personal attention.

     The Inn buildings are close to the North River and Toddsbury Creek, near the Chesapeake Bay, and the whole Inn is surrounded by water on three sides. Guests have three docks from which to choose: A canoe or small rowboat dock or you may arrive by sail boat at a deep water dock, as many do. Guests may also walk several miles of lanes in the immediate vicinity of the Inn, including a stop at the rare 18th century ice house.
The Montagues created North River Inn as a way to share the several extra and interesting homes on the Toddsbury property with more than just their family and immediate friends. Portions of both Mary’s and Breck’s families have lived in Gloucester and Middlesex since early 17th century, and—as Pages, Nelsons, Carters, Lees and Montagues—played pivotal roles in the history of Virginia. Thus to stay in their family place feels like the real thing, as the rooms are full of family history. Portions of the property were used by Colonial Williamsburg as the prototype for the Restoration in the 1930s. 

     The Guest House sits in the Toddsbury yard a distance from the private home. There you have the ultimate in privacy and romance—an entire house of your own to enjoy. An exquisite gem, the Guest House gives exceptional privacy and comfort—perfect for a honeymoon or a romantic getaway. Downstairs is a richly appointed sitting room with oriental rugs, floor to ceiling bookcases, filled with good reading, and a glowing fireplace. Upstairs is the inviting bedroom with canopied bed, fireplace, sitting area and bath, all with a sweeping view of the river.

     Creek House has its own unique history. Mary Montague’s great-great grandparents bought Toddsbury in 1880. When the family sold the property in the 1940’s, Mrs. Montague’s grandmother, Catherine Sanders Mott Catlett, kept part of the land and built the charming Creek House, designed by noted Virginia architectural historian, Thomas Tilston Waterman. It is patterned after British colonial in the West Indies. Tall French doors open directly onto the tidal creek, bordered by a brick terrace and a charming walk accented with flowering trees. Creek House is the largest structure in the Inn, where the hot breakfast on weekends is served, and where small meetings convene in one of its spacious rooms overlooking the water.

     The Gordon Bolithos’ purchased Toddsbury and after a few years sold it to Mr. Montague’s aunt, Gay Montague Moore, an early and influential preservationist, in Virginia, and granddaughter of Governor Montague. Mr. Montague inherited Toddsbury at his aunt’s death and Mrs. Montague’s grandmother gave her Creek House.

© 2001 Catherine C. Brooks All Rights Reserved