From the moment you leave the rush of King Street and turn past the apple tree by the entrance to the Lovill House Inn, you are welcomed. First, by the charming profile of a white farmhouse with a green roof, its wraparound porch and blanket-draped rocking chairs calling you to sit and stay awhile.

Then, there’s the official welcome when you step through the front door. There’s no check-in counter, no line to wait in — only a warm gesture from General Manager Alison Dees to come in, put down your bags, and get settled.

General Manager Alison Dees photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

In the foyer, decorated with wormy chestnut trim, she greets you by name and asks how your travels have been. You tell her honestly because, though you’ve just met, you can feel that she cares. Dees offers to help with your bags and take you on a tour. She could be in the middle of planning a seating arrangement for a wedding, proofing dough for tomorrow morning’s toast, or mapping a back-roads drive for a visiting couple. But at this moment, her full attention is on you and on sharing the rich history — and future — of this home.

• • •

The tour starts beside the front door, at the arched entrance to the first guest room at the inn. Though the house was built in 1875, this room was a part of the Lovill family’s original cabin, which predates the home — and most of Boone itself.

Edward F. Lovill, who became a prominent lawyer, purchased land north of town to build the farmhouse where he raised his family and helped shape the future of the region. “We call that bedroom right there the birthplace of App State,” Dees says. “In 1903, the Dougherty brothers, who had little tiny Watauga Academy, came to see their friend E.F. Lovill at his law office.”

Hanging in the dining room is a photo of William R. Lovill. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

She gestures to the room, once home to E.F.’s practice. The brothers asked him to help them write a charter to acquire state funding for their school. E.F. dictated the charter to his son, William R. Lovill, the only typist in town.

As the story unfolds, you can imagine bookcases lining the walls and hear the clack clack of an old typewriter in the room where history was made. The charter that W.R. typed earned funding that would eventually lead to the formation of Appalachian State University.

The tour passes sustainability and ecotourism awards that the inn has won in recent years, a nod to the home’s future. Along the way, Dees points out a framed photo in the dining area. Taken in 1940, the image shows W.R., as mayor, welcoming thousands gathered on King Street for the dedication of the town’s post office. This stop on Dees’s tour is where Lovill history collides with her own.

As mayor, W.R. Lovill welcomed thousands — including some of Dees’s relatives — to the dedication of Boone’s new post office in 1940. Photography courtesy of Lovill House Inn

“Somewhere in this photo are my grandparents,” she says, her eyes scanning the image. “One of my aunts, who was training to be a nurse at the time … I think she’s right over there.” She points to a teenager in a white nursing uniform: her aunt Shirley, one of her mother’s 12 siblings.

For as long as the Lovill House has stood, Dees’s family, the Johnsons, have called the High Country home. Before she came to Lovill House, Dees spent time as an assistant innkeeper, a private chef, a professional baker, and a homeschooling mother of five. She’s spent her life taking care of people, building a résumé that made her the perfect candidate to be innkeeper. But it was her Appalachian roots that destined her to care for this house and its guests.

• • •

The sun peeks into the guest rooms at Lovill House as the scent of bacon crisping rustles the home awake. Behind a door in the dining area, Dees and her sous chef for this morning, App State student Raegan Driggers, turn this room into one of the hardest-working kitchens in town. The pair swirl around the island as they prepare today’s breakfast: squash dauphinoise, local bacon, and lemon chiffon pancakes with strawberries and hand-whipped cream.

Dees gives Driggers tasks — Could you grate the Swiss cheese for the dauphinoise? — and tips from her years of trial and error in the kitchen — I usually hold the grater at an angle so you can lean it against the bowl — but never hovers or micromanages. This is a kitchen of pinches, sprinkles, and well-eyed spoonfuls. Ingredients are added by heart rather than measuring cups.

Cosette Rieflin (left) and Emma Shae Morrow help Dees prepare home-cooked breakfasts. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

Dees has always been able to make something out of anything, a skill she inherited from generations of mountain women in her family. Ten minutes west of the Lovill House is the community of Sugar Grove, where her grandmother Texie raised 11 of her 13 children.

“My mom says that of all two dozen or so grandkids, that I’m the most like my grandma,” Dees says proudly. “She was just happy being a farm mom.”

Texie brought up her children in a small cabin with no running water or electricity just 10 minutes from the Lovill House, though worlds away. “Once her kids got older, and she had just three to take care of, she went and became the [school] lunch lady,” Dees says. “She had to have more people to take care of.”

Breakfasts like spiced pancakes with ginger-poached pear sauce, squash dauphinoise, and bacon, are served with a custom coffee blend from Boone’s Local Lion. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

Dees remembers all the lessons that Texie taught her. Some were told, like how to tat crochet flowers and how to make cobbler cuppa cuppa cuppa (cup of self-rising flour, cup of sugar, cup of milk). And others were shown, like how to care for the people and places around you.

“The people living here in back Appalachia didn’t have much,” Dees says. “If you had a pair of shoes that were worn out, but there was a little bit of leather or there was a shoelace or something that was still good on them, you would put it in a pile to use later. That’s the original sustainability. That’s reduce, reuse, and recycle in living color.”

• • •

When the current Lovill House owners, Joel and Tonje Olsen, hired Dees in April of 2023, she was once again following in Texie’s footsteps. Dees raised her five children in nearby Todd with her husband, Jim, an adviser for App State’s award-winning solar race team. On their 22 acres, she tended gardens and showed her children how to care for the land that raised them. “I love being a mom,” she says. “Always have.”

Her children were almost all grown when her youngest nudged her to find something to keep her busy outside the house. The Olsens had renovated the Lovill House and were looking for an innkeeper, someone who knew the area and could be a steward for the home and its history — and cook a mean breakfast.

After Joel and Tonje Olsen bought the Lovill House, Joel and their son Ole Christian, then a student at App State, did much of the renovation themselves. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

By the time they bought the Lovill House, the Olsens had been visiting the area from their home in Cornelius for years. Joel is a pioneer of sustainable agriculture combined with solar power farming in North Carolina, and the couple dreamed of transforming the old farmhouse into a sustainable tourism destination.

Dees was inspired by the Olsens’ vision to bring sustainability back to the property. In preparation for her interview, she dove into the App State archives. “I spent a whole day poring over any records I could find on the Lovill family,” she says. “I was so excited to possibly have a job somewhere that was connected with my history.”

She arrived at the Lovill House with the story of the family memorized, ideas for zero-waste events at the inn, plans to turn the property into a gathering place once more, and a full breakfast repertoire — including strawberry shortcake and avocado toast with goat cheese — along with ingredients to cook it. Oh, and this little detail: Her grandfather may have milled the chestnut for the trim that lines the foyer.

William R. Lovill, who typed the charter for what would become App State in what is now the Bristol Suite, one of the inn’s six guest rooms. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

“She takes ownership and cares about the inn,” Joel says. “We want people to feel like they’re home and like they’re cared for.” He also discovered Dees’s knack for home cooking, his favorite being her cookies. “The cookies she makes are just fantastic. They’re sweet, a little salty, crunchy but chewy,” he says. “The only problem is there’s never enough of them for me.”

After what was supposed to be a 20-minute interview turned into a four-hour conversation, Dees got the job.

• • •

Some early risers follow the scent of bacon and settle into a table by the French doors that separate them from the cool mountain air beyond. They revel in this aroma reserved for B&Bs: the smell of a breakfast you didn’t have to cook or leave the house for.

Between showing Driggers how to fold egg whites into the pancake batter and hand-whipping cream with homemade vanilla sugar, Dees checks on guests. She asks how they slept, and they tell her honestly. By now, they know she cares.

She then heads outside to the herb garden. Dees snips thyme to top the dauphinoise and, before heading back in, gently removes the heads of some wispy yellow flowers by the door. “This is oxalis,” she says. “It’s very lemony, and we’re having lemon pancakes.” If you’ve never been to the Lovill House or had the good fortune of being fed by Alison Dees, you might think this detail would go overlooked by diners.

Sit for a spell in the rocking chairs on the wraparound porch. photograph by Cheryl Zibisky

A couple wanders into the dining area. James and Mary Jane Nettles are celebrating their 32nd wedding anniversary, the third one they’ve spent here. Dees emerges to greet them, and they talk like old friends, the couple gushing about their favorite meals from Dees over the years.

“I don’t know what I would do without being able to take care of other people,” Dees says. “I like to feed people’s souls. I like to have an actual connection.”

The people who stay at the Lovill House are looking for a personal touch to their trip. Before they arrive, they might not know about the history of the home and its namesake family, the Olsens’ sustainability efforts, or Dees’s deep roots in this place. But as they settle into their stay and experience the thought and care that’s infused into every aspect of the inn, they want to know more. They feel that connection, even as they load their bags into their cars and Dees wishes them safe travels: Thanks for coming. Take care.

Lovill House Inn
404 Old Bristol Road
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 270-0831
lovillhouseinn.com