After Haven, I took a couple days to recuperate and then left for the beach on Wednesday for 4 nights.  Mark and his entire extended family go to the beach every August and stay on St. George Island, FL for a whole week in beach houses.  Once it was decided that I would go down there after Haven was over, I looked online to book a place for myself.  I knew that Apalachicola was close and looked on Air B&B to find a place and it didn’t take long to find something quaint and cozy.
The Hays House looked so cute and quaint to me and so I booked it, knowing that it would be a good spot more than likely. Â It did not disappoint! This was my first time booking an Air B&B, but it won’t be the last. I booked the Petit Jardin room, but there are 2 more to choose from.
The Hays House is in the downtown Historic district of Apalachicola and built in 1908 (or 06, as I was told by Molly, the hostess). Â It’s a really cute old house, with lots of quaintness and vintage appeal. Â The owner is artist Amy Friedman, who I found out lives in Alpharetta, GA, when she is not living the coastal life in Apalachicola.
She is definitely a lover of old and chippy things and the house is a treasure trove of fun bright colors and vintage appeal.  You’ll see what I mean when we go inside.
Every corner of the house inside and out was so fascinating, with color and texture everywhere. Â It felt so relaxing and warm, like visiting your grandma’s house.
Staying here made the downtown area very walkable and you just go out and head down the street to shops and restaurants. Â We ate in downtown Apalachicola one night and I’ll tell you about that later. Â It was a fantastic meal, our best in fact!
One thing I noticed was the use of all these shells and I found out later they are limpet shells and the hostess of the house, Molly, told me all about them. She orders them and does lots of crafts with them and they are hung all over the house. Â I think I must order myself some of these shells. They are such a beautiful color. I’ll show you more of those later too.
Inside the foyer is a big welcoming table, full of fresh colors and more vintage goodies. It was apparent pretty early on that an artist lives here. And she loves color! Â That appeals to me as well, since I love color too.
The house has 3 guest rooms currently for rent and I stayed in the Petit Jardin, a small and cozy room, perfect for my needs. Â It was tucked in that back right corner right beside the armoire you see by the back door.
Artwork covering the foyer walls.
Take note of that little painting. Â I ended up buying it and took it home with me.
Coming in the foyer, the house has 2 living rooms with fireplaces on either side of the front door.
Cozy sofa and pretty colorful pillows make a nice sitting area.
Amy’s colorful artwork was hanging all over the house too. Note all the colorful painted ceilings.
I really loved this piece!  Everything was for sale and I bought that smaller piece to take home with me.
The woodwork in the Hays House was so pretty.
The right side living room or sitting room with built ins was so nice.
The built ins held all sorts of beautiful old pottery in an array of colors. Notice the art by Amy of oyster shells above the fireplace.
Of course, I loved all of this!
Old pottery speaks to me.
A bicycle painting by the artist owner, Amy.
My cute little room was so cozy and quaint. Â It was a great place to rest and relax at night.
Bathroom wall shelf.
Vintage chippy painted door going into the bathroom.
I loved the colorful painted ceilings in the house too. You know I love lime green!
Right outside my room, this common area had a back door to the outside.
There was so much to look at all over the house. Â I though y’all would enjoy this tour too.
A blue painted ceiling going up the stairs to the 2nd level.
Upstairs, I checked out a bigger room than the one I was in and this one was so pretty too.
More of Amy’s artwork in this room anchors the wall.
I can see she is a collector of old things and it’s very appealing in this house.
Each room has it’s own little kitchenette and bathroom.
Kitchenette area for the larger bedroom.
The center hallway upstairs was very spacious and large.
Loved the Apalach pillow. Â That’s what they call it here.
You will probably not be surprised that there is a resident house cat.  Jilly was so cute and she is an indoor/outdoor cat. If she scooted out the front door in the morning when I left, Molly told me not to worry, she goes in and out.  She was so friendly and adorable!
There was even an art studio on the first floor, with paintings and crafts using these limpet shells I showed you earlier. Â Molly told me she orders them online from Atlantic Coral Enterprises for the best price. She said they aren’t cheap, but they sure are charming shells. I had never seen them before. Look how they are brown and ugly on the outside, but such a beautiful aqua shade on the inside.
When I heard limpet shells, I immediately thought of the old movie, “The Incredible Mr. Limpet”. Â Remember that old Don Knotts movie from the 60’s??
Molly pointed out all the crafty things she has done with limpet shells and I loved them all! Â This was an old plastic bust she found somewhere and covered it in shells.
A is for Amy. Â Any big monogram letter could be covered with shells. Â Oh,the possibilities!
A picture frame covered in limpet shells.
More shots of pottery collections around the house.
Amy loves this old turquoise pottery like I do.
Detail on a neat vintage mirror.
The common area kitchen upstairs has coffee and continental breakfast every morning, so you can help yourself to fresh coffee, along with cereal and breakfast bars. Â Molly fixed biscuits one morning and sweet rolls one morning, along with fresh fruit that was available. Â Not a sit down breakfast, but still very acceptable.
The original artwork was so pretty and fascinating to me with all those beautiful greens and blues. Â I decided I had to buy something to take home from this trip to remember The Hays House and my trip to the beach. Â I purchased the smaller painting on the left for $75 and will treasure it.
I did find a link for Amy’s art studio and it says that you can call and order online as well.Â
I knew you would all love seeing the Hays House and hearing about my experience in Apalachicola. I’ll be back soon to share more on this small coastal town as well as St. George Island. Â It’s a beautiful area and very Old Florida. Â My parents are both Florida natives, so it’s fun to get off the beaten path sometimes and see Florida as it was back when my parents were raised there. Â Speaking of my dad, he was raised from age 12 on in Panama City, Florida. Â We went to dinner one night over there and drove by my grandma’s old house. Â Oh, the memories! Â I’ll share that with you later.
Have you been to Apalachicola or this area? Â It really is worth a visit to get out of the hustle and bustle of the other beach towns that draw so many people each year.
What a most beautiful and charming B&B to stay in and rest from your hard work at Haven…love all of the details!
Rhoda, this B & B just oozes charm! So different than staying in a high-rise condo with hundreds of other people at the beach! I just love it’s quaintness. Have a wonderful weekend, Pam @ Everyday Living
That is my part of Florida! My family has a place down there and we spend many weekends/weeks there throughout the year. I love the slower pace of life there and would retire down there in a heartbeat!
What a cute place! The blues and greens were meant for you. I love the decor…all the art and cozy touches make it very inviting.
I love Apalachicola! We go camp at Cape San Blas every spring or fall and always go into Apalach to eat and browse. When we get tired of eating seafood we go to the Owl Cafe there and it is always good. I enjoyed this post so much! The b&b is so inviting and I love her artwork. I would have had to purchase that painting too! Thank you for sharing this and I look forward to reading more about one of my favorite small towns.
Lynne
HI, Lynne, the Owl Cafe is where we had our best meal, loved it!
This is a really beautiful home. I would come there just to stay in that house. Amy is a very talented artist as well as home decorator. Thanks for sharing Rhoda!!
What a cute and inviting place to stay! Do you know if there is an online source to purchase her work? I LOVE that bicycle painting!
HI, Deb, I am not sure she has a website. Molly told me they are working on that, but you could email Molly through the B&B website and ask her about the art. I didn’t get her direct email when I was there, but she is available on that Hays link. She helps Amy with her art. I know she has a gallery store in Apalachicola, I think. At least she used to.
Edited to add: I did find this link to Amy’s art, so check it out:
http://www.amysgreendoor.com
Love B & B’s we have stayed in 3. This was cute. How far to the Beach? I love the art. We always go to art Gallery’s when we travel.
So happy you enjoyed your vacation Rhoda.
Looking forward to hearing more.
Brenda, its about 15 minutes over the bridge to St George Island, so not bad at all,
Yes! Have stayed at St George and explored Appalachicola . I remember a great garden shop there.
What a cute place to stay! I love all of the art and color. Like another commenter, I, too, wonder if she sells her art online anywhere?
Thanks for sharing this wonderful spot, Rhoda. You have a gift for finding the best, most relaxing, and comfy places to stay.
Rhoda thanks for sharing your stay at the Hays House. What a great place. I’d love to stay there too! I loved looking through all the rooms with you. What fun. As always, your blog is the greatest!!!
Diane, thank you! You have been with me for such a long time and I appreciate that so much.
Rhoda, can I tell you how much I fell in love with this house looking at your pictures, and reading your descriptions of everything!! What a charming place. I may just have to make my reservation! Thank you so much for sharing. By the way, I lived on a naval base in Panama City for 2-3 years when I was a kid. Good memories too!
Enjoyed the tour and it encouraged me to get in my art room and PAINT. Also, told my husband we must return to Apalachicola soon. We went years ago when our boys were young and saw manatees swimming near the dock. The motel we stayed in is most likely gone. It was the RAINBOW HOTEL and it wouldn’t have been my first choice but a guy thing. Memories made…..
Oh my, what a fun place. I love all of her artwork too.
This place looks tailor made for you. I really like the bicycle painting also. We used 3 different Airbnb places to go to central Italy for 3 weeks and I can’t tell you how easy and inexpensive!!! and fun it was. I’m sorry they are being attacked as a business model. However, no one made breakfast for us. We did have a visiting kitty in our place near Perugia and it was so lovely to come in all stressed out and anxious from trains and rental cars and I don’t know Italian and there’s a sweet fat cat rolling around wanting a belly rub.
Anyway, back to Florida. Being from Louisiana, I have been to Florida many times but mostly North Florida. it’s like Louisiana in that it’s so very different 100 miles away. Think Pensacola to Miami to Key West. I love it!
THANK YOU, Rhoda! It was such a pleasure to meet you and get to know you a little! Rooms at the Hays House may be booked through airbnb, as well as directly through me…My email is [email protected]. I can also help anyone who might be interested in purchasing Amy’s artwork, both prints and originals. Again, we can’t THANK you enough.
Molly
Ilovevisiting your blog and particularly love this post as my family and I visit Cape San Blas and Appalachicola every year. I am having difficulties seeing your blog in full page……it pops up in full page but then quickly changes to a small column on the left side of the screen. I am hoping you or another reader might know how to help me fix this…..because it is hard to read. I am not experiencing this on any other blogs….so I wanted to ask. thank you!!!!
Andrea, this started about 3 months ago & it seems to be those running ad blockers are not compatible with an ad plugin I have for my sidebar. I think if you disable it (at least for my blog) it should go back to normal. Happening in Chrome and Firefox. Hope that helps!
Rhoda, I loved this post! We have been loving SGI and Apalach for over 13 years Asa family. The Hays House is new to me though. Thanks for sharing a great art resource! ?
Thanks so much for sharing the Hay House B&B with us! I love this home! It’s filled with warmth and color and the palette is so beautifully done that it feels light, airy and happy. She is definitely skilled in combining styles and colors. It looks like a restful place to stay!