Doylestown Inn up For Sheriff's Sale

The historic Doylestown Inn in the heart of the borough is on a list of properties scheduled for Sheriff's sale next month.

The property at 18 W. State Street is scheduled to be sold at Sheriff's Sale, which is an open public auction. The property is on the list for the September 9 sale.

The action is being brought by Univest National Bank & Trust. The owner, Deauville V L.P., owes $2,927,039.79 on the property, according to the auction sale list.

The Inn was open and still accepting reservations on Thursday. A message requesting comment was not returned.

The buildings that eventually became the Inn date to 1871, but the Inn itself began life about 30 years later and has had a varied, somewhat tortured history.

Built in 1902, it was known as Hotel Pollock until it was purchased by Rudolf G. Hein and Mrs. Hein in 1919. They renovated, refurnished and enlarged the hotel, growing its reputation into a destination for dining.

In 1938, the Heins bought the building next to the hotel and built two dining rooms, enlarged the lobby, created modern rooms on the second and third floors and air-conditioned the lobby.

The "Jug-in-the-wall" Bar at the hotel was one of the best-known rendezvous points in Central Bucks.

Mr. and Mrs. Milton Mustin then bought the hotel in February 1956 for around $200,000. But they closed it "without warning" on July 4 of the following year, citing ill health.

The property changed hands at least seven more times over the intervening decades before Michael Welch bought it in 1998 for about $600,000.

At the time, it had 20 rooms and a restaurant. Welch wanted to eliminate the hotel rooms entirely, but borough council opposed the move.

In July 2000, they reached a compromise allowing Welch to put shops and offices on the first and second floor and hotel rooms on the third floor.

Welch reopened the Doylestown Inn in 2001 after a substantial renovation that included an interior atrium, elevator and skylight that floods the space with natural light.

Sheriff's Sales of distressed properties are held each month at the James-Lorah House.