The Bath House: Beauty on Bath Creek

Published 8:30 am Saturday, July 17, 2021

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Just steps away from the beautiful waters of Bath Creek, The Bath House provides guests from all over the world an opportunity to experience life in North Carolina’s oldest town. 

Built in 1875, this historic home located along South Main Street in Bath has been renovated from a single family home to a rental available through the popular rental service, AirBNB. Owners Tracy Warren and Melonie Grooms, who reside at their home on North Market Street in Washington, purchased the house in September of 2020.

PORCH WITH A VIEW: The spacious back porch provides guests with an unobstructed view of Bath Creek while enjoying the partial shade offered by the large tree in the backyard.

“We bought the home with the intent to live in it as our permanent residence,” Grooms said. “Our home in Washington was listed for sale and when we found this house in Bath, we knew it was for us. We were paying two mortgages and as retired educators, we knew we needed to do something with the house in Bath.” 

The home’s waterfront location provides breathtaking, unobstructed views of Bath Creek and allows guests the opportunity to soak up the sun from the spacious back porch if weather permits. For colder nights, views of the water can be enjoyed from the formal dining room or the breakfast nook adjacent to the completely renovated kitchen. With three bedrooms, two bathrooms and room to sleep up to six guests per stay, this home provides families with an excellent escape for a long weekend away from home. 

GUEST ROOM: This is one of the three bedrooms within the home and features large windows for natural light and a queen-size bed decked with elegant linens.

“I listed the house on AirBNB and within a couple weeks, we had all of May, June and July booked solid. We didn’t have a stick of furniture in the house so we gathered what we could and really made the house a home,” Warren said. “Our first guest was from Ohio and since then we’ve had so many different people stay with us. We’ve had guests from South Africa and all over the United States. We’ve even had someone from Bath.” 

In addition to the entire house, guests can also utilize the dock attached to the property for water access to Bath Creek and the greater Pamlico River. A boat slip measuring six feet deep is available to guests at no extra cost and the home’s on-site, private dock measures 21 feet long. 

PRIVATE DOCK: Guests are permitted to use the private dock on the property for no additional charge. Warren asks that guests inform him before check in if they plan to use the dock’s boat slip so he can remove his fishing boat from the dock.

“All of these people have walked the waterfront and fallen in love with Washington. Our first guest is now moving to Washington and recently accepted a position with Vidant,” Grooms said. 

Warren and Grooms’ home, The Bath House, is available for rental through AirBNB. The property requires a stay of at least three nights and is open for booking as soon as September.