A treasured landmark praised in historical documents for serving “bountiful food and hospitality” over multiple decades has acquired funding to ensure it remains a part of the Western North Carolina landscape.
American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation released the names of the 50 extraordinary small restaurants to receive the 2024 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant for $50,000.
The grant program allows the recipients to “rejuvenate, innovate, and expand their businesses, ensuring their cherished legacies endure.”
The NuWray Hotel, at 102 Town Square in Burnsville, is one of this year’s grantees. James and Amanda Keith, the owners, plan to invest in the property’s extensive renovation project.
“Receiving the grant further justifies our commitment to saving this property,” said James Keith, who purchased The NuWray Hotel with his wife, Amanda, in October 2021. “Knowing that we weren’t the only ones out there that understood how important this small property is to the history of this whole area.”
Establishing legacy
James Keith said the grant will help to improve the façade, winter restoration for its original double-hung windows and ADA-accessibility at the restaurant.
According to the National Register of Historic Places, NuWray Hotel’s construction and opening dates as early as 1833, a year before Burnsville was founded.
Garrett and Elizabeth Ray purchased the property shortly after the Civil War and operated the business until they died in 1912.
Amanda Keith said the inn was called Ray’s Hotel and colloquially named “The Old Ray.”
In 1915, the name changed to Nu-Wray Inn when the couple’s daughter, Julia, married William Wray, and the new owners decided to reinvent the business’s name, too.
According to the National Register of Historic Places, the inn was built as a two-story structure with late-Georgian architectural character. It has undergone several extensive renovations.
In 1870, the east wing received a massive expansion that added a touch of the Victorian Era style.
In 1915-1917, the Wrays expanded areas including the lobby, dining hall, kitchen and upstairs guest rooms with Colonial Revival improvements during their first year of ownership.
In October 2021, the Keiths purchased the property with the original carriage house.
James Keith said the hotel was derelict until the 2021-2024 renovation project revived the property, sustaining historic elements while making necessary modern upgrades to areas like the guest rooms, management offices and restaurant’s dining room.
This month, the Keiths reopened The NuWray Hotel to overnight guests, offering 22 guest rooms with five additional suites in the Carriage House.
The hotel’s restaurant intends to reopen this fall.
Roland’s Bar on the Deck ― an outdoor bar located in the hotel’s original smokehouse and named after Will Roland who served as the restaurant for more than 40 years ― and Carriage House Sundries ― a neighboring wine bar, wine and cigar shop, deli counter and restaurant ― are open.
Famed guests and a secret room
James Keith said the NuWray is the oldest continuously operating hotel in North Carolina.
“The NuWray, for decades, brought people in, hosted people and cooked for people and it’s been a long time since it did that at the level of its height,” James Keith said.
According to the booking ledger, notable guests have included President Jimmy Carter, Mark Twain and Thomas Wolfe, and it’s rumored that Elvis Presley stayed, too.
James Keith said they recently discovered J. Robert Oppenheimer and Jack Kennedy’s names in the guestbook.
James Keith said NuWray Hotel is the oldest building in what’s now Yancey County.
“This has stood the test of time throughout the years and has seen a whole lot,” James Keith said. “It’s a cornerstone of Burnsville’s town square and a vital piece of history here in an area that prides itself and cherishes its heritage.”
James Keith said the NuWray Hotel survived the Civil War. During the recent renovations, a secret room without windows or doors was discovered with two luggage trunks full of the family’s history including wills, life insurance, diaries and stock certificates.
The NuWray Hotel’s restaurant
Chef Pete Crockett, formerly of Isa’s Bistro and Hemingway’s Cuba in Asheville, will lead NuWray Hotel’s kitchen.
James Keith said the hotel’s restaurant, which received acclaim in media publications in its heyday, used to serve family-style Southern meals.
This fall, the restaurant will relaunch with a menu celebrating WNC foodways; however, they’re scaling back on family-style servings for large groups to reduce food waste.
“We plan to resurrect the history of the culinary program as the guide for the menu,” he said. “It will be largely regionally based historically informed Appalachian cuisine.”
He said there’s also an underground hidden bar at NuWray Hotel.
James Keith said community outreach initiatives will include a “shut down” of Main Street to serve about 150 plated communal meals about twice a year.
Other culinary and heritage-driven programming will be announced.
The NuWray Hotel
Where: 102 Town Square, Burnsville.
Info: For more, visit nuwray.com. For more about the 2024 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program recipients, visit savingplaces.org/historicrestaurants.
Stories you may have missed:
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: The historic NuWray Hotel reopens, awarded $50k grant for restorations
