Elizabeth Nhambure’s home opens as the 1878 Bed and Breakfast at the Historic Muse House on May 1. The Victorian-era home at 538 Carthage Street features 1800s décor and a global perspective with the accent on customer satisfaction.
The furniture and dinnerware were locally sourced, with many pieces donated within a 25-mile radius. An 1800s German Carl Bechstein grand piano will arrive next week for the parlor. Alex Twum is an artist from Ghana, and his paintings are displayed for sale.
Elizabeth Nhambure shows off Alex Twum’s painting of Ghana women collecting water, which hangs in her dining room at her bed-and-breakfast on April 4, 2024.
Nhambure’s passion for a global perspective originates from traveling the world during her Army career. She is the first Black woman to open the first bed-and-breakfast in Cameron. This open-mindedness extends into her customer service protocol.
“I want them to feel accommodated,” Nhambure said about providing customized staycations, including breakfast served in the rooms upon request and transportation to events, restaurants, and nearby destinations. “I expect a lot of customers going to BHAWK,” she said about the Southern Pines distillery owned by veterans.
Customers may request themed stays, such as art tours, agriculture, book clubs, bachelorette parties, Bible studies, and event stays, including the U.S. Open in Pinehurst June 13-16 and Cameron’s Antique Street Fair May 3-4.
The 1878 Bed and Breakfast has three upstairs rooms, the pink room, named The Lakes, as in Spring Lake, where the furniture came from, the Tiffany Blue Miss Belle’s Room, and the dark slate blue suite, yet to be named.
Rooms begin at $175 per person and are all-inclusive, including the drinks in the refrigerators in each room and three meals. Adults only, please. 850-694-8832.
Elizabeth Nhambure smiles on April 4, 2024, on one of the three balconies offering seating for four to enjoy the Mayberry-lost-in-time ambiance of downtown Cameron from the bed-and-breakfast.
Visit Nhambure during the Cameron Antique Street Fair May 3-4. She will have food truck vendors, a yard full of antiques for sale, and two-hundred-year-old barn wood.
Another Cameron business set to open on May 1 is the Dewberry Café, according to the new owners, Lura Heichel, son Donovan Hamilton, and wife Michele Hamilton. The café plans the same menu as it had as the Dewberry Deli, including its famous Reuben sandwich.
Lura Heichel and daughter-in-law Michele Hamilton enjoy a break on a pristine antique sofa on March 14, 2024, at the Old Hardware Vintage Depot in downtown Cameron.
The Dewberry Café is downstairs of the Old Hardware Vintage Depot, where the Hamiltons operate the store during the week while Heichel works in the corporate world as an IT director.
“I plan to retire with this business,” Heichel said about falling in love with Cameron during a visit.
The Town of Cameron has placed a moratorium on new construction through the end of the year while revising its land use plans. The town is also considering acreage limits for single-family homes.
The Phillips Memorial Park is constructing a new train-themed play station after raising the required $50,000.
Sullivan’s Antiques will soon have a mural depicting dewberries, trains and historical structures.
Feature photo: Elizabeth Nhambure reviews Alex Twum’s sketches of Cameron’s historic dwellings on April 4, 2024, for future paintings at her bed-and-breakfast.
~Article and photos by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College and Father Vincent Capodanno High School. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing, Sky’s River Stone, and GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean Stage Play with Translation.
