Jim and Carol Beazley are living Napa pioneers — in the bed and breakfast industry.

The husband and wife opened the first B&B in Napa and are among the first inn keepers in the state, and are looking forward to another 27 years in the hospitality business.

In 2005 the Beazleys contemplated retiring from the bed and breakfast industry. So they decided to put their two inns up for sale — the Beazley House and Daughter’s Inn. It was just as the hospitality industry was recovering from Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks and the dot com crash. The two B&Bs are on First Street.

The Daughters Inn, operated by the Beazleys’ daughter and son-in-law, was sold to Jim Gunther and Jamie Cherry of Napa.

The Beazleys put the inn on the market in 2005 and the San Francisco transplants bought it in May 2007.

“They have the passion, the drive, motivation ... they love that place ... and they love the people,” Jim Beazley said.

The couple have renamed the 10-room B&B The Inn on First Street.

Originally, the Beazleys wanted to sell both inns — totaling 21 rooms — as a package deal.

However, potential buyers seemed interested in one inn or the other, not both as a single deal.

As it turned out, the Daughter’s Inn sold, and Beazley House was taken off the market after six months.

“It became clear to us we were not really ready to sell the Beazley House and retire,” Carol Beazley said. “Emotionally, we just weren’t ready to sell.”

Hospitality pioneers

The Beazley House was the first B&B in the city of Napa and one of only a handful in the Napa Valley and California back to 1981 when the industry was in its infancy. Back then, Napa was a sleepy little town, which tourists zipped past as they drove Upvalley.

All that has changed as Napa undergoes a renaissance.

Today there are a plethora of Zagat-rated restaurants within walking distance of Beazley House and the Inn on First Street.

And there are no shortages of huge Victorian houses. “Napa is blessed with a supply of old mansions. It is like the Savannah of the West,” said Jim Beazley, referring to the stately mansions of the old south.

It was also in the early 1980s when the B&B industry was born, it held its first state convention in 1982.

“We don’t know of another couple in the state that have been at this continuously  longer than we have,” said Carol Beazley.

“No one in state — that we are aware of that is still in business from 1981 all the way forward ... at this point we believe we are the senior inn keepers in California,” Jim Beazley said.

The Beazleys are founding members of the California Association of Bed and Breakfast Inns and the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.

When Beazley House opened in Napa, there were no other inns in town. The city’s hospitality sector has evolved. Today there are an estimated 18 to 20 B&Bs in the city of Napa.

One of the few B&B mentors in the Napa Valley for the Beazleys were Jack and Essie Doty, who ran the Chalet Bernensis in St. Helena, who helped them find their Napa location.

The Beazleys bought the property from Joan Hitchock, who owned it for about three years. “She was extremely flamboyant,” both Beazleys said with a chuckle.

“We’ve had the passion to do this from day one,” Jim Beazley said. And they believe Gunther and Cherry have that same passion.

“We are kind of like their mentors, like Jack and Essie were ours,” Jim Beazley said.

Change of heart

“We are anything but retired,” said Jim Beazley. “But people around town keep asking if we’re retired.”

Part of that is because the couple have been busy making improvements to their B&B since selling the Daughter’s Inn.

The Beazleys admit their daughter and son in law just didn’t have the passion for being inn owners.

“(They) got burned out on how tough it is being and entrepreneur. It is not for everyone,” said Carol Beazley.

The Beazleys ended up operating the two B&Bs themselves for two years.

“It was hard,” Jim Beazley said. “We didn’t realize how hard it would be until it didn’t sell.”

“We didn’t have a social life. It was important to keep it going. It was twice as much work for us,” Carol Beazley added.

After the sale of the Daughter’s Inn, the Beazleys rolled up their sleeves and began making overdue improvements to Beazley House.

It included upgrades to the Carriage House and flatscreen televisions in the rooms. “You have to stay on top of things. The guests expect it,” Jim Beazley said.

“Napa is like a “sleeping beauty,” Jim Beazley said.