Berkeley House added to prestigious bed and breakfast list

The Berkeley House in Staunton was given a prestigious honor earlier this month.

The bed and breakfast was added to the Select Registry: a group of more than 300 inns and hotels across North America. To earn membership, each location must undergo a 200-point quality-assurance inspection.

Jeff Ribman and his wife, Bonnie Huang, said representatives from Select Registry came unannounced and performed a thorough inspection of the location.

"They looked at the house itself," said Ribman. "They want to see how [you are] servicing your people."

Ribman and Huang, both from New Zealand, bought the home two years ago. They opened the bed and breakfast after a one-and-a-half year renovation process.

The couple, who originally did not have plans on opening a bed and breakfast, fell in love with the Valley while visiting on vacation.

"We drove down Richmond [Ave.], saw the townscape and got goosebumps," said Ribman. "We came back a few weeks later and actually saw this house. It wasn't like it is now, but it was enough for us to say, 'this is a place that we're going to settle.'"

The 120-year-old home, decorated in Victorian style, features five rooms for guests to stay in. Three of the rooms are named after places in New Zealand.

"We brought about seven cubic meters [of items] from New Zealand," said Huang.

Other sites included on the Select Registry are the Iris Inn & Cabins in Waynesboro, the Inn at 400 West High in Charlottesville and North Fork Mountain Inn in Cabins, W.Va.