Co-owner Devin Jones showed the OBSERVER around this week. Squire White would not recognize his 19th century residence, updated into a brand new 21st century hotel, restaurant and meeting space.

Jones contacted the OBSERVER after last weekend’s article about the Main Street hotel, which he and Steve St. George purchased from a holding company out of foreclosure. The article stated the interior was a bit of a mystery, because messages to seek a tour were not returned.

However, that was due to a misunderstanding: a manager who led a previous tour is actually no longer involved in the project. As it turns out, Jones and St. George have plenty to show off inside.

Jones immediately pointed out the dining room to the right of the main entrance. It has completely new furniture and decor. He said workers tore out a wall in the dining room that a previous owner had erected.

A bathtub in a White Inn suite sits under a chandelier. (The bathroom does also contain a shower.)

“We tore all of that down and put it back to the way it was supposed to be,” Jones said.

The nearby kitchen was unrecognizable from the OBSERVER’s last tour in July 2023. The area was totally gutted then, but sparkling new equipment is now in place.

On the other side of the first floor, the bar area is decked out in tasteful wood trim that manages to look contemporary yet classic.

That’s the goal Jones and St. George set for the new hotel. That theme continues upstairs in the guest rooms.

The guest rooms are also entirely renovated. Jones pointed out two suites he is especially proud of. One has an eye-popping bathroom feature – a walk-in tub underneath a chandelier.

The bar area at the White Inn in Fredonia.

Jones other’ favorite is the Presidential Suite. It features a living room and 1½ bathrooms – the full bathroom’s shower is giant, the size of a walk-in closet.

Online reviews from the hotel’s previous iteration complained of tattered decor and outdated equipment in the rooms. That seems highly unlikely with the new White Inn. Everything in the rooms is freshly installed, from floor to ceiling.

The elevator features small screens with time, weather and news headlines – a little touch that’s standard, even expected, in modern boutique hotels. Jones said they had to dig out a new shaft for the elevator.

In fact, “there’s no pipe or wire in the building that’s old,” he said.

The inn was already hosting a sprinkling of visitors when the OBSERVER looked around Wednesday. Jones said they were conducting a “soft opening” that day and Thursday.

Part of the first-floor dining room/meeting space at the White Inn in Fredonia.

He said the hotel will fully reopen to the public, including for room reservations, Monday.

The living room in the new Presidential Suite at the White Inn in Fredonia. P-J photos by M.J. Stafford