ABOUT US
Our History
Located in the Manayunk neighborhood of historic Philadelphia, the Guest House was originally built as a Parsonage or Rectory for the United Methodist Church in 1877. It served the church well with housing the Pastors of the church and their families along with serving the community by conducting many wedding ceremonies and baptisms on the property for a couple dozen years. However, the town of Manayunk grew as an industrial textile town which drew many Catholic migrant workers from Europe to the area. The Methodist church found that the expense of running the Parsonage was not necessary and found it best to put the property up for sale in the beginning of the 1900’s.
Fortunately, the building was purchased by Mrs. Dorothy Sarama, the great Aunt of my partner and husband, Neal Orzeck. Dorothy raised her family here and converted the third floor into an apartment and the main floor into a Beauty Parlor during the depression to help make ends meet. Her granddaughter Bonnie eventually inherited the home and sold it to Neal’s sister and her husband in the early 1980’s. Neal and I the purchased the home in 1999.
In 2007, we had the idea to make the home into a bed and breakfast where we could entertain folks traveling to Philadelphia. We worked on the home over the next decade to bring it back to the original grandeur that it once was when it was built in the Victorian Age. We reluctantly agreed to accept our first paying guest in the summer of 2015, when our good neighbor needed to house her friend from Thailand. She then put us on TripAdvisor by posting our very first review and the rest, as they say is history. That began our latest career, as fully committed Innkeepers.
Travelers have now been coming to the guest house from as far as New Zealand, Europe and of course Asia. We are truly humbled by how well we have been received by our guests and absolutely ecstatic by the wonderful reviews we have received since our opening.
As we continue to grow and move toward the future, we look forward to welcoming future guests to even greater experiences in Manayunk Chambers Guest House as we will offer Private Afternoon Tea Parties, Murder Mystery Events and Cooking classes and demonstrations. Please subscribe to our newsletter to stay in touch and to be the first to know of the latest happenings and the exciting overnight themed packages and seasonal specials we will be offering to our very loyal and beloved guests.