Century-old Wellsburg home is renovated, converted to Airbnb

Warren Scott
NEW PLACE TO REST — The Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce and city officials welcomed Arabian Nights, an Airbnb at 542 Main St., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Making the cut was owner Danielle Thomas, who has worked with others to renovate the Luke Walters house, which was built around 1900.

WELLSBURG — After being vacant for many years, a three-story house at the corner of Main and Sixth streets is receiving a new lease on life as an Airbnb.

The Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Dan Dudley recently welcomed the new business, Arabian Nights, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Making the cut was owner Danielle Thomas, who has been working with others for more than a year to renovate the structure, which was built by Luke Walters, a local businessman, around 1906.

The efforts have ranged from stripping, sanding and re-staining the wooden staircase to the second floor, installing new flooring and repainting walls to adding an elevator to the second floor, walk-in shower to one of the rooms and a handicap-accessible ramp to the north side of the building.

While its name evokes the ancient Middle East, a nod to Thomas’ Syrian heritage, its furnishings call to mind the turn of the 20th century, with a variety of paintings and antiques decorating its rooms and corridors.

Ornate chandeliers light many areas, and a large picture window at the end of a second floor corridor offers a scenic view of the Ohio River across from the house.

Thomas has noted opportunities for fishing and other recreational activities in promoting the establishment, which has three rooms available for temporary lodging and is registered on the Airbnb website. She has posted photos of the rooms on her website at arabnites.com, through which reservations may be made.

Airbnbs are bed and breakfasts that are booked online and were named such because a pioneer of them placed an air mattress in a room he intended to rent short-term.

Since 2008, more than 5 million Airbnbs of various sizes and in more than 100,000 cities around the world have been registered.

Like earlier bed and breakfasts, they consist of space rented by homeowners. But despite their name, Airbnbs do not necessarily provide breakfast or other meals.

Thomas said there currently are no plans to serve meals at Arabian Nights but noted there are many area restaurants available to guests while an adjacent city park offers opportunities for picnicking.

(Scott can be contacted at [email protected].)