Innkeepers & House History

The Story of Our Beaufort, North Carolina B&B

As owners of the Pecan Tree Inn, Stan and Christine look forward to welcoming you to their charming Bed and Breakfast. Stan and Christine celebrated nine years as owners of the Pecan Tree Inn this year. The 1866-1867 structure was initially built as the Franklin lodge and later expanded and remodeled to become the Jones family home circa 1900. The Inn was again renovated to become a bed and breakfast in 1992.

Stan, a Marine veteran and 30+years employee of FedEx, loves welcoming guests and utilizing his construction skills while working on this historic 1866 home. Christine was a corporate traveler in the Commercial Real Estate industry for 25 years. She was an event planner and trade show promoter, and she is now enjoying her passion for gourmet cooking and entertaining as the chef for the Inn. 

They love being a part of the local business community, adding their business to this coastal community’s charm. They are both active members in local non-profit groups such as the Beaufort Ole Towne Rotary, Beaufort’s women club, and Garden Club. Sponsors of the community fundraisers like Beaufort Food and Wine, Beaufort Pirate Invasion, Beaufort Rotary Scholarship program, local Boys and Girls Club, as well as Habitat for Humanity, and the Beaufort Farmers Market.

History Before Becoming a Bed and Breakfast

Explore our Southern Outer Banks Bed and Breakfast in Beaufort, North Carolina. Meet the innkeepers and learn the history behind this 150+year-old plaque home. The Inn is celebrating 32 years as a bed and breakfast this year.

The Pecan Tree Inn sits on a lot deeded to the Franklin Masonic Lodge in 1866 by Rebecca Piggott. Members of the lodge celebrated the cornerstone’s laying, and of the other lodges in town, all decked out in full regalia. The parade proceeded down Front Street to the Queen Street site.

 Being one of the larger buildings in Beaufort, the Franklin Masonic Lodge doubled as a schoolhouse. Subsequently, it was used for Sunday school, a tea house, a doctor’s office, and an apartment house (popular with students at the Duke Marine Labs). Long-time Beaufort residents still stop by from time to time to share stories of taking music lessons in what is now our Sitting Room or taking afternoon tea in the dining room. Hugh Jones converted the lodge into his private residence in the1900s, adding five bedrooms and three beautiful Victorian porches. The Jones house was the first in Beaufort to have gas lighting, indoor plumbing, and a telephone. According to family stories, it’s said that Mrs. Jones insisted that the phone be installed on a pine tree in the yard in case it was to attract a lightning strike. The Jones house was converted to a Bed & Breakfast Inn in 1992 by Joe and Susan Johnson.