Thomas Harding visited Chad and Carrie Gauthier in their Harpers Ferry bed & breakfast with an outstanding vista of the confluence of the Shenandoah & Potomac rivers.

On a refreshingly cool and pleasant summer’s evening I pay a visit to the recently established bed and breakfast in Harpers Ferry. I park at the end of Henry Clay Street, next to the old cemetery, and amble down the stone steps leading to a glowing Victorian home nestled amongst a grove of mature trees: the Ledge House.
As I walk into the kitchen, Carrie Gautier greets me with a smile and a hug. She waves me towards the counter, upon which sit various aperitifs: enticing looking salamis, hickory smoked cheeses, exotic looking crackers. Carrie offers me a glass of perfectly chilled white wine from a local vineyard. It’s drinks time and I arrived just in time.
I wander out onto the deck. I join two guests merrily sipping from their own tall goblets; they are catching up on the day’s exciting adventures at one of the local tourist spots.
In front of me flows the most staggering scene. The Potomac River draws the eye forward, past the heady outcroppings of Maryland Heights, past the railroad bridge from which John Brown launched his raid on the Armory, and onward to the Harpers Ferry Gap, where the Potomac meets the Shenandoah River.
Carrie joins me on the deck, along with her husband Chad and their cute-as-a-button toddler daughter, Noche. We sit on tall stools, around a high, round glass table. Above us hangs an ancient cherry tree that shades us from the tired sun. They tell me about the house.
“I have been looking at this house since I was a child,” says Carrie. “We used to come on trips to Harpers Ferry from Loudoun County, and I would notice the house. Over the years I watched it change.”
Years later, Carrie house-sat for the owners of the house. She told the owners if they ever thought of selling the place, they should give her a call. A year or so later, on St Paddy’s Day, the owners told Carrie they would like to sell the house. “We said yes, we would like to buy it,” says Carrie, laughing.
I ask Carrie about the name of the Ledge House Bed & Breakfast. She starts to sing Aerosmith’s “Living on the Edge” and then collapses into giggles. Chad helps out. “The house is built on a rock outcrop,” and then he adds dryly, “hence the name.”
Carrie is a busy woman. Besides running this successful pension, she is a sometime member of the town council as well as a popular real estate agent in the area. Chad is a local custom homebuilder with a concentration on things environmental.
Though the house was built around 1890, its various owners have made their improvements and alterations. In their turn, the Gautiers have added warmth and light. Chad remodeled the kitchen and the basement and added the decks with the expansive views. There is a large fireplace in the living room, above which hovers a mantel piece adorned with local trinkets and treasures of interest.
The Ledge House comprises three sumptuously appointed suites, full of antique furniture, including armoires, richly woven carpets, and tastefully upholstered period armchairs. In addition, a cottage is attached to the property. Travelers who stay at the B&B come from across the United States. Some are visitors interested in exploring historic Harpers Ferry. Others are “thru-hikers” on the nearby Appalachian Trail. Still more drop in during a white-water adventure on the Potomac or Shenandoah rivers.
“We love how secluded the house is,” says Chad. The house sits right above downtown historic Harpers Ferry, home to the national historical park and assorted museums and exhibits. “It is an oasis,” adds Carrie.
Less than a five-minute walk from the Ledge House perches Jefferson’s Rock. Here Thomas Jefferson sat over 200 years ago and wondered at the beauty of the views through the gap at the confluence of the rivers to the Piedmont beyond. Jefferson famously wrote that it was worth a voyage across the sea to behold such a panoramic vista.
I would say it is worth the trip from almost anywhere to taste a similar vantage point from the Gauthier’s Ledge House deck.