We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Robinson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Mission: Our mission is to inspire travel that connects visitors with the Clarksville community and small businesses. We aim to collaborate with stakeholders to increase awareness of what Clarksville has to offer as a historic, lakefront town in an effort to boost economic growth and tourism.

I grew up spending my summers at my grandparent’s house on Kerr Lake (or, as locals like to call it, Buggs Island). Thinking back on those times brings up memories of kayak rides to beaver dams, catching fish on the dock with my grandfather, barbeques, sunset boat rides, and learning to water ski. We spent most of our time on the lake with occasional trips into town to pick up pizza, browse the local shops, and buy fresh produce from the resident farm stand. For me, these infrequent trips meant downtown Clarksville held a certain allure. At the peak of my interest was a small, inoperable motel in the heart of town. Since I was a teenager, I dreamed of renovating this motel with the goal of connecting people to Clarksville. For reasons unknown to me, Kerr Lake has always been less well known than its neighbor Lake Gaston despite Clarksville being Virginia’s only lake front town. My plan was to revitalize the motel into a cozy, unique spot that would drive guests to visit Clarksville in the hopes that they would find the community, the lake, and the small town as charming as I did.

Fast forward two decades and I was still hoping to one day renovate that old motel. My husband and I inquired about purchasing it at one time, but were, unfortunately, turned down because the owner wasn’t interested in selling. At this point, I thought the dream would remain just that – a dream. That was until my mom sent me an email one day for a building in downtown Clarksville that was for sale. The building had been listed for years and wasn’t remotely on my radar. I knew this building. I had driven by it hundreds of times. I had shopped in the small art and gift shop on the main level. I had seen the “for sale” sign, but had never considered that it could be a way to achieve my goal of creating a short-term rental space that would help connect others to Clarksville.

When I started to look at the building, it made sense from a business perspective. The building had three floors and was zoned for residential and commercial use. There was a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment upstairs, a commercial space on the main floor with an art and gift shop. and a rentable commercial basement space. There was also a back room on the main floor that was large enough to turn into a separate apartment one day if we desired. This meant there were four potential income streams in one building. Further, the art and gift shop planned to continue to rent their space at a monthly price that would cover our mortgage. The only drawbacks were that the apartment needed significant renovations…and I was currently living overseas in Morocco for my husband’s job. He took a little convincing, but we ended up purchasing the building in January 2022. I flew back to Virginia for six weeks in February and, with the help of my parents and some incredible local contractors, got the entire apartment renovated and ready to rent within my timeframe. I always felt that the apartment was more than just an average short-term rental space so I decided to market it as a Boutique Guest Stay (more on that in my next response).

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a lover of old things. I like imagining the life an item (or building) lived before me and the life it will continue to lead after I salvage or refurbish it. I happily spend my free time in thrift stores and flea markets, usually searching for furniture or home goods that I can incorporate into our home. I love receiving feedback from others that they “can’t believe I thrifted that” and I probably spend too much time telling the story of when I found certain pieces or gushing over the price I paid (I snagged the huge wooden armoire in our Boutique Guest Stay for just $45 at a local Salvation Army store). When I began to consider purchasing the building, I couldn’t help but look into its history. Built in the late 1800s, it has been home to a variety of businesses over the past 100+ years. Before 1902 until circa 1925, the commercial portion of the building housed a dry goods business. The local telephone exchange moved in and occupied the upstairs around 1913. Our main floor has been home to a men’s store, a variety of restaurants, and a few specialty shops. Presently, our main level hosts The Corner at Two One Six, an eclectic gift store for lovers of life, art, food, libations, and unique experiences.

It was important to me to honor this history while also incorporating design elements that evoked a “lake cottage” feeling. I wanted to lean into my love of thrifting and second-hand items, too. Along these lines, I chose a historic exterior paint color, sourced antique rugs from Morocco for two of the bedrooms, added beadboard and other traditional components, and thrifted almost all of the furniture and art work in the apartment. One of my favorite design elements actually came to be by happenstance. I had plans to do a framed quote on the wallpapered area above the bench in our small “hallway”, but that changed when I had the opportunity to hunt through driftwood from the lake at our neighboring store, Grandfather’s Country Creations. The owner was so kind and supportive of our renovation efforts, offering to let me browse through the driftwood that she had salvaged from the lake to incorporate into our apartment. I ultimately found four amazing pieces to add throughout the apartment, my favorite being the framed “cow skull” shaped driftwood in our mini hallway space.

I am most proud that the apartment was turned around in six weeks. With my flight back to Morocco already booked, it was very important to me that I have the apartment renovated and listed within my time frame. There were a number of hurdles that we had to overcome (including a broken pipe that flooded the laundry room and sent water pouring into the store below), but I was very fortunate to have amazing contractors who were supportive of my timeline. Ultimately, we restored the original heart pine floors; painted all interior walls and trim; painted the exterior; remodeled the kitchen; added beadboard, wallpaper and other design elements; updated electrical; replaced a shower; laid new flooring in the laundry room; executed the interior design; and listed the apartment for rent in just six weeks.

When it was time to list our rental, I knew it could be more than just a short-term rental space. After exploring different labels, we decided to market it as a Boutique Guest Stay. I wanted to draw others in to Clarksville and I wanted people to know the experiences available to them. Another big consideration was that I wanted to create a space where I would want to stay. I thought about the things I look for when I book a place – aesthetic, design, experiences, cleanliness. At this point, I felt comfortable with the aesthetic and design. I had also connected with an amazing woman who would end up being our cleaner. My final goal was to draw others into the experiences Clarksville had to offer. While there were already excellent options around Clarksville (an award winning brewery, wineries, a summer concert series, yoga, golf, outdoor adventures, local shops, delicious restaurants, boat rentals, a state park, etc.), I also wanted to create opportunities that were unique for our guests. I started connecting with local businesses after we bought the building and, through these partnerships, was able to expand our offerings. For example, we give guests the option of curating their own picnic to enjoy on a boat ride or hike at the state park, we’ve partnered with a traveling massage therapist to offer in-home massages, the local farm has provided fresh eggs for our guests, and we offer free tickets to the summer concert series for individuals who stay on these weekends. We’ve also connected with local artisans including the potter, Daisy Chain Ceramics, who created custom coffee mugs for our guests to enjoy. This unique design and her other works are now available for purchase in the shop downstairs.

Our favorite partnership thus far has been with Chef Lemar Farrington of Amalie(a)!, a Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen Alumnus who offers private dinners. Through our partnership with Chef Lemar, we gave our guests the option to experience a 5-star, restaurant quality dining experience in the comfort of our Boutique Guest Stay. Chef Lemar’s meals were such a hit that we decided to extend the experience to the local Clarksville community, offering a “Pop-up Dinner Party” with Chef Lemar. This dinner party received excellent feedback and became a staple offering, with events scheduled almost monthly. As a nod to our history, Chef Lemar also served a “throwback meal” that was a play on the menu of the Roberts’ Restaurant, which used to occupy our building. Not only was the community excited about this meal (a number of people reminisced about their times at the old restaurant), we were able to get family of the owners of Roberts’ Restaurant involved in the event. Chef Lemar has gone on to partner with other businesses throughout town and even coordinated Clarksville’s first restaurant week this year.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe transparency, strong partnerships, and consistency helped me build my reputation within my market.

Building a business in a small town meant there was a decent amount of interest in the changes that I was making. Being transparent was important to me from the beginning and the first way I attempted to achieve this was by starting an Instagram page so that people could follow along with our progress. When I spoke with members of the community, I was upfront about our plans including our long and short term goals. I also held a “sip and see” once we finished our renovations, so that individuals could come view our Boutique Guest Stay and I could answer any questions. My hope was that this experience would generate interest and increase referrals to friends and family who were visiting the area. I believe my honesty and efforts at being transparent helped bring awareness to our business and boosted the likelihood that we would receive referrals from locals. It also led to a variety of strong partnerships that would continue to help me build my reputation. Through my efforts at making connections within the community, I developed relationships with businesses in Clarksville and neighboring communities. I’ve partnered with some of these businesses in marketing promotions and giveaways, which has increased our visibility and expanded our reach. I also built strong connections with contractors in the community and our incredible cleaner, which has meant that any issues that pop up with our Boutique Guest Stay are addressed quickly. This has allowed us to consistently provide a high-quality experience, which is reflected in our online reviews and the number of return guests we’ve had.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Living in Morocco while trying to promote our business meant that I needed help with content. I had taken initial photos, but I needed higher quality pictures for general marketing. I also wanted to create a consistent Instagram aesthetic. The biggest challenge for me was budget, though. Being a new business, I didn’t have the funds to put towards professional photography. I started following professional photographers on Instagram and was contacted by a branding photographer, Madalyn Yates. Through our conversation, we worked out a “stay swap” deal where Madalyn stayed at our Boutique Guest Stay for free in exchange for content and social media promotions. I wasn’t sure how the partnership would turn out, but it has ended up being one of our best marketing moves to date. We have used Madalyn’s photos in a high percentage of our marketing materials and even received a $5000 tourism grant from Virginia Tourism Cooperation that allowed Madalyn to return during the off season to take additional photos for us to use in our marketing. Further, Madalyn has made additional connections in Clarksville and, to date, photographed a number of other local businesses. Going the route of a “stay swap” was a risk, but it assisted us in developing a strong partnership while also receiving high quality marketing content.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.216virginiaave.com
• Instagram: 216virginiaave
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/216VirginiaAvenue
• Other: airbnb.com/h/216virginiaave

Image Credits
Personal image: Renee Hollingshead Photography Photo of loveseat in front of window with the two hanging art pieces was taken by me All other photos: Madalyn Yates Photography