Antebellum Inn provides unique taste of history, hospitality

Published 2:00 pm Friday, July 22, 2016

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Driving southward into the center of Milledgeville from North Columbia Street, the landscape changes rapidly from restaurants and billboards to quiet, tree-filled streets.

Continuing through the first (or last) traffic light at Montgomery Street for one city block, sits a 19^th century home that houses one of Milledgeville’s most unique businesses, the Antebellum Inn. Located a mere block away from the center of the Georgia College campus, this beautiful and out-of-the-way home, originally built for the prominent Judge Rufus Roberts in 1890, now accommodates travelers from all over the world who have travelled to Milledgeville and provides them with a small taste of Southern food, hospitality and charm.

“We’re the only bed and breakfast in town,” said innkeeper Olivia Bartholomew. “I think Milledgeville needed something different than just the regular chain-like hotels. They needed a step up in something that had quality, but also that was close to campus and close to downtown. We’re actually the only accommodation stay in the historic part of downtown.”

Being the only innkeeper at the Antebellum Inn, Bartholomew is given the inexhaustible task of tending to all the rooms in the enormous house. The main house includes five bedrooms with their own adjacent bathrooms, as well as a living room, parlor, dining room, outdoor pool, and a four-person guesthouse. Each room in the house is immaculately decorated with period-specific furnishings, and the end result is a beautiful space that appears to have been lifted straight from the front page of a magazine. Every morning Bartholomew cooks breakfast and any other meal that guests might desire, and the inn even hosts formal events such as weddings, bridal showers and baby showers. Given her consuming list of daily tasks and responsibilities at the inn, Bartholomew is an innkeeper in the truest sense of the word.

“As soon as someone pulls up, I greet them out at their car, help them with their bags, and carry them to their room,” said Bartholomew. “I get to know each customer by their first and last names. Each night we’ll have a wine and cheese hour and I’ll sit down and just talk to them myself, just about what brings them to Milledgeville, where they’re travelling to; you really get to know them that way … I think people like having that hospitality aspect of things, and it’s the little things that we try to focus on.”

As Milledgeville’s first point of contact for guests who stay at the inn, Bartholomew also acts as a source of knowledge for adventurous travelers interested in the city’s attractions and rich history. New guests who are unfamiliar with the city of Milledgeville often come to her with questions of where to go and what to do during their stay, and her recommendations to her guests are as varied as the places they come from.

“I would say the most popular countries that people come from to stay are England, Germany and France,” said Bartholomew. “Bed and breakfasts are really popular in Europe, and I think they want to experience the south in an antebellum-style home. I honestly think that’s what their goal is: those chain motels [that we have here] are unheard of out there, and I don’t think they want that. I think they would rather meet with the locals and experience the town in a more hospitable way.”

Although one might normally think of an innkeeper being a lifelong resident of his or her respective town, Bartholomew has taken an interesting path to living in Milledgeville that gives her a unique perspective on its Southern charm and tranquility.

“Being from California and the city, it feels good to be in a small town,” said Bartholomew. “I’m from just outside of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. I actually moved out there for eight months after I graduated college, realized I missed Milledgeville that much, and came back out here, if that says anything about how much I love it here.”

Like so many of the guests she accommodates, Bartholomew sees Milledgeville as a former stranger who was taken in by the city’s laid-back Southern charm. As long as she continues to show her many travelers the very best of what our city has to offer, the Antebellum Inn will have little trouble finding guests.

The Antebellum Inn is located at 200 North Columbia St., at the intersection of West McIntosh Street. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and can be reached by phone at 478-453-3993.