Nadine and Carl Glassman had a dream to own a bed and breakfast country inn. Part of a new class of professionals who reject suburban conformity and urban complexity, they were drawn by the life of a small town and a gingerbread, Victorian house filled with antiques. Nadine and Carl have expanded their dream to include the Wedgwood Collection of Historic Inns, a complex of 18 rooms housed in three restored and historic homes. Carl co-wrote How To Start and Run Your Own Bed & Breakfast Inn. The second edition of his book was published in 2005 and is available for purchase online on our website. Opening their inn to others who have had this same dream, your hosts offer you an opportunity to "apprentice" with them to see if the reality of owning an inn is as interesting as the fantasy.

Innkeeping Consultations

Carl, named "one of the few professional inn consultants in North America" by Inc. Magazine (May 1998), is available to consult with aspiring innkeepers on a one-to-one basis at the Wedgwood or the proposed location of your new inn. In addition to opening many inns for clients in Bucks County, Carl has done inn consulting in Bar Harbor, Charleston, Savannah, Indianapolis, Cape May, Del Ray Beach (Florida), Dubuque (Iowa), and Chesapeake City (Maryland). Services range from location evaluation and structuring the organization and purchase of the property to establishing inn policies and procedures and developing a brochure and marketing plan.

Innkeeping Apprenticeship Programs

Carl and Nadine warmly invite prospective innkeepers to spend time at the Wedgwood and to participate in a structured, residential "hands-on" learning program, geared to provide a full range of day-to-day experiences in operating an inn. The length and content of the Apprenticeship Program is tailored to the individual needs of the participants. The program usually runs between five and ten days, and often runs as long as two weeks. W4 called this program "a unique resource this side of the Mississippi River." (August 1990) Special (for credit) internship programs for college and graduate students have also been designed.

All Apprenticeship Programs cover the full range of inn experiences, from financing your purchase and registering guests to making beds and preparing breakfast. Longer stays obviously allow for more in-depth learning. The last days of all programs afford the aspiring innkeeper a chance to take charge and operate the inn by themselves. Visits to other bed and breakfasts and inns are scheduled, too, with the intent to provide an insider's perspective to several on-going establishments.

Carl's Apprenticeship Program is the oldest continually-run program of its kind in the United States.

Innkeeping Seminars

Carl and Nadine also offer seminars from time-to-time throughout the year for aspiring innkeepers. The Seminars are set up to allow individual/couples to meet one another and share their interests in becoming an innkeeper as they participate in our one-night, two-day workshop, which is limited to no more than fourteen students. The seminars are led by Carl and Nadine, with other innkeepers who serve as guest lecturers, too.

Guest innkeepers are invited to dinner and encouraged to chat informally with Seminar participants. Unlike the Apprenticeship Program, the Seminar does not provide the chance to meet "real" house guests; however limited "hands-on" experience in operating an inn will be available.