Bavarian Inn, Shepherdstown WV: A Taste of European Luxury
Summary: Contributor Jackie Sheckler Finch visits the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In a leap of faith, inn owners Erwin and Carol Asam left Washington, D.C., and their Piccadilly Restaurant in 1977. They purchased the rundown Greystone Manor, a 1930s estate turned part-time inn.
Honoring Erwin’s Bavarian roots, they renamed it the Bavarian Inn, aiming to bring authentic German hospitality to a town with genuine 18th-century German heritage. Nearly 50 years later, their sons, Christian and David, run a thriving resort perched above the Potomac River with 72 elegantly furnished rooms, a AAA Four-Diamond dining room, a 500-bottle wine cellar, and a striking infinity pool.
Guest demand for lodging, not just dinner, drove the inn’s expansion from four Alpine chalets in 1981 to the full Schwarzwaldhaus complex by 1994. The brothers later added Bavarian Brothers Brewery, named for historic Asam-family church architects, with playfully named beers honoring their parents. The result: European charm without the transatlantic flight.
When Christian Asam was 2 years old, his parents, Erwin and Carol Asam, loaded him and his 2-month-old baby brother David into the family station wagon and headed off for a new life away from bustling Washington, D.C.
The Asams had previously run the Piccadilly Restaurant in the nation’s capital but were looking for a less hectic location. In March 1977, the couple bought the former Greystone Manor in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
“My mother thought my father was absolutely crazy to buy this place,” Christian Asam says. “It was a mess and my parents worked their butts off to turn it into a place where people would want to come and eat and stay.”
Built in 1930, Greystone Manor was originally a private residence that was converted into a small lodging and part-time restaurant in 1962.
“Shepherdstown was much different back in the 1970s and 1980s,” Christian says. “Not much here at all.”
Shepherdstown German History
However, the area did have fascinating German history. The oldest town in West Virginia, Shepherdstown had its first settlement recorded in 1730. Thomas Shepherd got a land grant in 1734, and other settlers began arriving, including many Germans.
A German school was established in 1762, the same year the town was incorporated under its original name Mecklenburg. In 1798, the name was changed to Shepherdstown to honor its founder. Today, Shepherdstown’s main street is still named German Street.
Serving German Cuisine
The Asams’ dream was to create a restaurant serving authentic German and European-inspired cuisine in honor of Erwin’s homeland. Because of Erwin’s heritage in Bavaria, the Asams named the old manor “the Bavarian Inn” to reflect the traditional German cuisine and architectural style of Erwin’s birthplace.
But the Asams faced major struggles renovating the old manor and getting it to the premium restaurant they envisioned.
“When they started, my mother was the hostess, my father was the chef and they had two waitresses,” Christian says. “They made a kitchen in the two-car garage and used the mansion’s living room as the restaurant’s dining room. Our family lived upstairs.”
Asam Dream Comes True
Almost half a century later, the Asam dream has more than come true. The family-run Bavarian Inn is now a popular resort honored with many awards.
The Bavarian Inn has earned the AAA Four Diamond Designation, an honor it has maintained since 1983. The Bavarian Inn dining room also has received a Four Diamond Restaurant Designation, which it originally received in 2001. With a wine cellar boasting more than 500 selections, the Bavarian Inn was awarded Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence.
Perched high on a bluff above the Potomac River, the 11-acre Bavarian Inn now has 525 employees and 72 elegantly furnished staterooms, which were born of necessity.
Diners Seek Accommodations
“Many of our original customers came from the Washington, D.C. area and told our dad that there really needed to be a place to stay out here,” Christian says. “Those people would drive more than an hour to have dinner and a couple of drinks here, then more than an hour to drive back home.”
Answering the need, the Asams added luxury overnight accommodations in 1981 with four Alpine chalets. In 1994, the Schwarzwaldhaus (Black Forest House) was completed, with a total of 72 rooms.
In 2000, after college and spending a stint at hospitality sites in Colorado and Philadelphia, Christian returned to the Bavarian Inn as company president. Five years later, David returned as vice president.
Making Timely Changes
Over the years, Christian and David have made additions to keep up with the times and guests’ requests without changing the Bavarian Inn’s original mission. In 2012, a stunning infinity pool on a 101-foot-high cliff overlooking the Potomac River was added. The infinity water flows over the edge, creating a visual effect of water with no boundary extending endlessly into the horizon.
“We started getting families and generations to come to dine and stay,” Christian says. “Adding the beautiful infinity pool was something guests really enjoyed.”
The Bavarian Inn had already gained a reputation for fine dining in the Potomac Room. “But we needed more than people just coming out here for special event dining,” Christian says. “It’s hard to survive as a place where people come once or twice a year for a special dinner.”
The answer? “We decided to open a brewery with a brew pub, outdoor patio and casual dining,” Christian says. “That’s when we started Bavarian Brothers Brewery.”
Bavarian Brothers Brewery
And, nope, Bavarian Brothers Brewery was not named after brothers Christian and David. The name is an historical reference to a pair of Asam brothers who built a church in Munich, Germany in the 1700s.
The brothers, Egid Quirin Asam and Cosmas Damian Asam, were renowned architects, sculptors and artists. Christian and David Asam are believed to be direct descendants of the church-building German brothers.
“One of their most beautiful churches, Asamkirche in Munich, can still be visited today,” Christian says. “We chose our brewery’s star logo because of the large stars on the doors of Asamkirche. The star logo is also over the fireplace in the Bavarian Inn’s lobby.”
Fun Brew Names
The brothers have had fun naming some of the Bavarian brews. Carol’s Royal Stout, for instance, is for their mother who was born in Sheffield, England, and for her being “queen” of Bavarian Inn.
Erwin’s Angry Ale IPA is for their father, of course, with the menu noting that Erwin is a man of “incredible work ethic, vision and velocity.”
The Luggage Assistance Porter is something of a joke. There are no full-time porters at the Bavarian Inn but luggage assistance from other Bavarian Inn staff is available upon request.
Other Shepherdstown Attractions
“After almost half a century since we moved here, it’s really neat to see how the Shepherdstown community has been booming. And no chain stores,” Christian says.
Home of Shepherd University, Shepherdstown (population 1,800) offers outdoor activities, shops, Historic Shepherdstown Museum, restaurants, historic sites, bookstores, music, festivals, Civil War landmarks, mystery walks, art galleries and seven town parks.
“Here at the Bavarian Inn, we’ve tried to preserve what mom and dad started and their traditions. We’ve also slowly and carefully added on things the next generation will be interested in,” Christian says.
“When you come here, you can have a European experience without the long and expensive plane ride to get there,” Christian says.
“We have many repeat guests because they like what they’ve found at the Bavarian Inn and we really appreciate our guests. It’s what my parents had worked hard for and dreamed the Bavarian Inn would be.”
Disclosure: The author was a guest of the Bavarian Inn but any opinions expressed in this post are her own.
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