Contributed A PLACE TO RELAX — The Inn at Brandywine offers the perfect place to relax.

TORONTO — Located just two miles from State Route 7, outside of Toronto, the Inn at Brandywine has been hosting guests and events since the summer of 2006. A former family home with a rich history, the secluded spot has become the go-to for locals as well as hundreds of guests from across the U.S. and beyond for the past nearly 18 years.

“I like to tell people that we were an Airbnb before there even was Airbnb,” co-owner, Tricia Maple-Damewood remarked. “When we opened, places like ours were called ‘vacation rentals’ or ‘bed and breakfasts,’ even though we didn’t ever host multiple groups at once or live in the home where our guests stayed, like a true B&B. And to say that the industry has changed in the past 10 years or so would be a huge understatement.”

Flipping through the guest journals, where people write snippets about their stays, it’s hard to believe just how many have visited and how far away they’ve come from — 28 of the U.S. states, in addition to Europe, Canada and even Australia. Perhaps the most famous guests were members of the 1970s British rock band, Squeeze, (their biggest hit was, “Tempted by the Fruit of Another.”) They stopped for an overnight stay in 2013, while on a U.S. tour.

Their stay was memorable, to say the least, with their tour bus getting stuck trying to navigate the narrow road and blocking traffic, and the local police and Ohio State Highway Patrol arriving on the scene.

“I often get asked who the typical guest at the Inn is and there’s just no answer to that,” Maple-Damewood said. “We have never really had one segment that made up the majority of our business. It’s always been a little bit of everything.”

In addition to being the perfect place to stay for Franciscan University of Steubenville guests and parents, concert-goers headed to the Pavilion at Star Lake and contractors and businesspeople working in the area on various projects, it’s the choice of many locals. They enjoy the feeling of being far away from home but with the convenience and affordability of having just a short drive. Wedding and funeral groups, family gatherings, girls’ and guys’ weekends and couples looking for some peaceful down time make up the guest list as well. The Inn has also hosted many events through the years, ranging from weddings, rehearsal dinners and fundraisers for local charities, to committee meetings, card parties, bridal and baby showers and corporate retreats

“We’ve hosted Franciscan University parents whose kids eventually met their future spouse while at school, and then hosted the rehearsal dinner for their wedding years later,” Maple-Damewood continued.

COVID turned the travel industry upside down and vacation rentals were no exception. The Inn attracted a unique type of traveler as the pandemic began to slow and travel was once again considered safe.

“We had families who literally looked at the map of the United States and honed in on our area because it was central to everyone in their family, and they were not at all interested in a regular hotel, from a social-distancing standpoint. One group had parents who lived in Michigan and children and grandchildren who resided in Florida and Washington, D.C. That’s how they found us. And they were thrilled to get together, safely, with lots of indoor and outdoor space,” Maple-Damewood said, adding 2021 remains the busiest year on record for the Inn.

But a post-COVID world has both pros and cons with regard to vacation rentals. According to Dave Maple, Tricia’s husband and co-owner of the Inn, “AirBnb and VRBO have totally changed how people travel from researching to booking, making both platforms great resources for us. But the competition has increased too. Lots of people have become hosts in the past five or six years, many thinking it’s an easy income stream, which isn’t always the case. We have to work continuously to keep improving our property, marketing it better and doing things that set us apart from the competition. Luckily, our setting is unique and pretty hard to beat.”

The past six months have been a busy time at the Inn with lots of great changes being done and more in the works. A refreshed and updated interior, professionally taken photos replacing the original ones on the website and booking sites, and an aerial video done to showcase the outside are a few of them. A new and improved website has been launched, allowing visitors to navigate more easily and get a more thorough “look” at all of the rooms and amenities.

The new site includes lots of information about the area, including some popular local businesses, so that travelers can get a feel for all there is to see and do nearby. And a big project, the addition of a second rental home just across the lake from the original, is slated to be done and welcoming guests in the coming year.

Affectionately called, “Juanita’s Place,” named for the Damewood family’s long-time neighbor, Juanita Craig, who lived across the lake for many years, it will feature three bedrooms, sprawling back and side yards, a beautiful view of the lake and its own private dock and rowboat. It will be a nice alternative for smaller groups who don’t want or need the space that the original Inn has, which accommodates 14, with five bedrooms and two sofa sleepers.

You can learn more about the Inn at Brandywine by visiting the website at theinnatbrandywine.com, and find it on Facebook or Instagram. At 6 p.m. on May 29, Tricia Maple-Damewood will host a presentation at the Schiappa Branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, where she’ll discuss the ins and outs of operating an AirBnb property.