The Jarrett House — which opened as a family inn 126 years ago in the railroad town of Dillsboro — was lovingly put back on track in 1975 by current owners Jim and Jean Hartbarger.

“It’s been a labor of love,” Jim Hartbarger said.

Dillsboro founder, William Allen Dills, built the inn in 1884. It was christened The Mount Beulah Hotel in honor of his youngest daughter. R. Frank Jarrett purchased The Mount Beulah Hotel in 1894 and renamed it The Jarrett Springs Hotel.

Jarrett named the hotel after a sulphur spring discovered on the property. Jarrett played the spring up as healing waters and even built a small summerhouse over it. The spring was a short-lived fad, but Miss Sallie Jarrett’s country ham, biscuits and red-eye gravy kept customers coming back for more. The Jarrett family owned and operated the inn until 1950. It passed hands a few times before the Hartbargers purchased it in 1975.

Hartbarger’s introduction to the Jarrett House came while he was coach of Western Carolina University’s men’s basketball team.

“I used to take the team there to eat every Sunday,” Hartbarger said.

In retrospect, that might not have been such a good idea.

“They always ate too much, it slowed ‘em down,” said the former coach said.

During those lunch excursions Hartbarger learned the inn was for sale. After some investigation and soul searching, Hartbarger and his wife Jean (who served as mayor of Dillsboro from 2002 through 2009) bought the Jarrett House. They and their two young sons, Scott and Buzz, moved in. Hartbarger said they didn’t work at the inn, they “lived it.”

“We lived upstairs for five years,” he said, “and we put every penny we made back into the inn, but it was the best time of our lives.”

Hartbarger said they refurbished the inn room by room, “as we could afford it.”

Hartbarger, to assure authenticity and continuity, tracked down former Jarrett House cooks and employees.

“We have employees who have been here 28 years,” he said.

And that, according to the owner, ensures customers get the real deal when they order Jarrett House chicken and dumplings or country ham and red-eye gravy.

But Jarrett House customers get more than just good food and great service. They get a sense of place and for a meal, a night, or a weekend, they get transported back to a friendlier, more leisurely time.

For some it’s a trip down memory lane.

“We have folks come in all the time and say ‘We honeymooned here,’ or ‘We’re coming back for our fortieth anniversary,’” said Hartbarger.

And for some, it’s the making of new memories.

“We had a couple in last Saturday and after a leisurely dinner they asked if we had a room. They said they enjoyed their meal so much they didn’t want to leave,” Hartbarger said.

The 23-room inn with family-style seating for more than 125 diners is managed with caring detail for guests’ need and enjoyment by Jim and Jean Hartbarger and their sons, Scott and wife Mary and Buzz and wife Sharon.