A Castle Becomes a Home

The newly refurbished Castle Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA held a Grand Opening on Saturday July 24th which offered opportunities to enjoy some wonderful food, explore some interesting businesses, experience some soul touching music, and engage in some delightful conversation. The food and conversation were plentiful while Nancy Reed, Vickie Doney, and Val Hawk of 3Spirit performed songs from their varied jazz repertoire.

The Castle Inn was originally built in 1906 and became known as a premier resort location throughout its illustrious history. In fact, The Celebration of the Arts held their first concert on the step of one of the resort’s buildings. Even though a fire destroyed the building, the festival is still being presented on the site with a stage built upon its foundations. However, the Castle Inn itself ceased doing business and became dormant throughout the years.

That is, until Theresa and Frank Paccione purchased the property five years ago and began plans to revitalize it. These plans including a painstaking determination to preserve the Castle Inn’s original charm which can be seen throughout the structure. Every aspect of the building was researched so the tiling and colors matched its splendorous past including the ice cream parlor which is now “Zoe’s Ice Cream Emporium.”

However, while the original structure served as a place for those visiting the Pocono Area to enjoy a home away from home, this incarnation serves as a home to businesses seeking residence in a building reflecting a town filled with culture and history. One of these businesses include The Tapestry Corner, Juvenis Body Works, JS Advanced Skin Care and Spa, Piano n Tigues, Scarlet and Jewels, and “Ourhouse” which is a home and leisure magazine serving a readership residing in the PA, NY, and NJ areas.

Among these shoppes, The Tapestry Corner and several others have an interesting history of its own. It’s original site was located on the corner of 8th and Main St. in Stroudsburg, PA and housed severa of the businesses now located at The castle Inn. It was also the site of The Forwardian Arts Society and Pocono Jazz and Poetry’s first ArtSmash of the Poconos. However, it was later damaged by a neighboring fire and ceased operations. It can be considered providence that this particular business found a new home at a site which was dormant for so many years when a devastating fire in a neighboring building caused it to cease operations so long ago. It makes me go hmmmm You’ll find more photographs in The Forwardian Arts Society Special Events 2010 Gallery at www.myspace.com/forwardian_arts.

The Castle Inn is located in Delaware Water Gap, PA and offers a variety of shoppes and some really good ice cream. They also plan to host a variety of events such as Artist Receptions, Concerts, and Spoken Word Performances as they develop their relationship with the community. If the Grand Opening is any indication, this will prove to be a very easy for Theresa and Frank to do as this castle is a keep. Please Call The Castle Inn at 917-861-2257 for information on all it has to offer including rental space for your business adventures.