.png)
‘Second to Nun’: Preservationist and Verandas founder Chuck Pennington dies
WILMINGTON — For nearly three decades, Chuck Pennington opened The Verandas’ doors to visitors looking for a taste of historic Wilmington. But the mansion at 202 Nun St. became more than a bed-and-breakfast: It also became a neighborhood anchor, a gathering place and, ultimately, a
reflection of the man who rescued it from a burned-out shell and helped breathe new life into an area of historic downtown Wilmington.
At 75, Pennington passed away on July 21, 2026, though his impact remains at Second and Nun streets.
Pennington and his partner Dennis Madsen purchased the historic property at 202 Nun Street in 1995 for $245,000. They transformed the Victorian Italianate mansion, first built in 1854, from a burned-out shell into a AAA Four-Diamond guesthouse, with upscale finishes and fine service standards that emulate the charm and elegance of historic Wilmington. The rating from the American Automobile Association is given to hotels and restaurants that provide polished style and high-level service.
“They helped elevate our lodging and marked downtown as a place to stay and visit,” Connie Nelson, who works for the Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “They really shaped the hospitality landscape in Wilmington.”
The Verandas is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been heralded by the Historic Wilmington Foundation as one of the few local residences that is 150 or more years old. The 8,500 square-foot, four-story home was constructed by ship builder and Navy yard owner Benjamin
Beery, who lived there before it became a medical hospital during the Civil War.
It was a convent and Catholic school before the turn of the 20th Century and then was owned by varied people. By the time Pennington and Madsen purchased The Verandas, it previously served as a low-rent boarding house, with few amenities for multi-tenants and was in disrepair, left vacant for
years due to a 1992 fire.
Pennington and Madsen found the home after looking for months — from Asheville to Maine — to follow through on renovating an historic property.
“It was more than a passion project, it was their legacy,” Pennington’s closest friend Chad Jarvis said.
Jarvis, who met Pennington in the early 2000s as a guest of the B&B, said they hauled out 10,000 pounds of radiators and copper plumbing, 80,000 pounds of plaster, all original wiring had to be redone and HVAC reinstalled. Madsen, a commercial interior designer, was general contractor over the project, while Pennington, who worked in Washington D.C., kept his job to help fund it.
Pennington’s career was multi-layered, serving as a dean for deaf students at Gallaudet University and also for firms like the National Association of Homebuilders and the National Governors Association. However, he had a penchant for finding a good deal when it came to antiquing, Jarvis said. This could be seen in The Verandas — from the chandeliers made of Czech crystal, to the 12-seat conference-turned-dining-table made in Mount Airy, and varied tea sets, china, and silver.
“Once we went antiquing in an old barn out in the country somewhere and Chuck found all of this original Waterford crystal. He just had an eye for those things,” Jarvis said.
The Verandas opened on Valentine’s Day 1997. Its eight bedrooms each are outfitted with a marbled-trim bathroom and garden-sized soaking tubs, four verandas and two parlors. The upfit of the home was a catalyst for change across the block, as roughly seven homes were also empty and
dilapidating.
“Before they renovated the house, there were squatters there,” according to Susi Hamilton, former House representative and neighbor of Pennington and Madsen for 19 years. “They donated their time, talent and treasure and made The Verandas an anchor, an inspiration on the whole block.”
She remembers the first day she met the couple; it came with a knock on The Verandas’ door, as Hamilton and her husband wanted to buy the adjacent house. But the for-sale sign previously posted was no longer there.“Dennis said: ‘Stay there, I have the key,’ and they took us over, showed us the house, and I called my
realtor that day,” Hamilton said. “From then on, they were always bringing us delicious leftover breakfasts and treats … in the last five years there, Chuck and I would sit on the front porch for an afternoon grapefruit-and-vodka and just share stories.”
The Verandas’ owners also hosted Hamilton’s first election fundraiser when she ran for the North Carolina House seat in the early aughts and made a big to-do over holidays, with elaborate parties and epic costumes and decorations. One year, six-foot spiders looked as if they were crawling up the
columns of the house and Hamilton remembers Madsen dressing up as a bathroom stall.
“You may recall that there was a Congressman back then that was caught soliciting men in the bathroom, by placing his foot underneath the stall beside him,” Hamilton explained. “All night Dennis would walk around and put his foot next to others — it was really clever.”
Nelson said their generosity stemmed beyond parties, too. She recalled Pennington often bringing gifts to the tourism staff at the convention and visitors bureau.
“I still have a little Santa Claus, with his legs dangling down off the side of the desk,” she said. One year, he printed certificates of appreciation for the staff and at the height of summer, he would bring them Dilly Bars from the Dairy Queen.
“He genuinely cared about downtown Wilmington, but he also had a real talent for always making people feel special,” Nelson said.
In 2022, New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority CEO Kim Hufham honored Pennington with the Jane Peterson Tourism Legacy Award. She called Pennington a highly regarded preservationist and visionary leader.
“The horse drawn carriage tour drivers are quick to point out The Verandas is ‘Second to Nun,’”Hufham quipped at the time, a pun often delivered while the carriage driver alludes to the Second and Nun streets signs near the B&B.
Hamilton said though hospitality was always on the up and up at the B&B, the two innkeepers also leaned into playfulness. Particularly as Pennington was a bit of a prankster. “He would put out dirty antique books on the coffee table to see who would notice them first,” she said.
Pennington ran the business for 25 years, 19 of them with Madsen, who passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2014. The bed and breakfast was operated for three years as Madsen also was cared for at home, through each debilitating stage of memory loss and declining health.“
At one point, Dennis was painting everything gold and Chuck would just let him — the entire back staircase, a pair of old tennis shoes, everything,” Hamilton said. “He contained them best he could but wanted Dennis to be able to express himself. He really cared for and nurtured him. It was just beautiful.”
Pennington wrote a book, “An Alzheimer’s Caregiver Alphabet and More,” after Madsen’s passing. Each letter navigates the emotional journey of caregiving, highlighting the importance of love, patience, and self-care. There is also a place at the end for caregivers to write their own story.
Each letter is accompanied by artwork from Wilmington watercolorist Nick Mijak. Hamilton said the book helped Pennington heal from the journey. It also includes some of The Verandas’ famed recipes — such as brie and pear croissants and cheese souffle.
Jarvis said times spent in the kitchen with Pennington remain his most cherished. He learned how to make the perfect Bananas Foster French toast with him — “the key is good dark rum and letting the bread sit overnight in the custard.”
“He was just so creative,” Jarvis said.
Four years after Madsen had passed, Pennington was back at square one restoring the home. Hurricane Florence hit in 2018, prompting a centuries-old tree to crash through the back sunroom, breaking water and sewer lines, while the chimney collapsed, front doors blew in and the roof caved.
“For days, water was pouring into the house, coming through the chandeliers,” Jarvis said, who packed up supplies and headed down from Raleigh to help Pennington. “It was tragic.”
Jamie Alfalla, of Alfalla Hospitality Group, who bought The Verandas from Pennington in 2022 said: “He was 67 and looking at 23 years of work undone. He ran fans and dehumidifiers for six weeks, rebuilt over 14 months, reopened, and went back to pouring wine at five.”
After 14 months of rehabilitation, with help from contractor Steve Venters, the house returned to its former glory.
“Chuck was nothing if not an activist and shrewd businessman,” Hamilton said about his love for the inn.
He also was a fierce supporter of the arts; a composer even wrote a piece called “The Verandas,” inspired by the B&B. Country and gospel musician Gail Bliss — who appeared on season 26 of “The Voice” — called it a beautiful piano score.
She met Pennington years ago and said he always supported her music, even performing one of her tracks in sign language for her during one of their visits: “It was just so moving; he was crying as he was doing it and I was crying watching it.”
After Pennington sold The Verandas to Alfalla Hospitality Group, he approached Bliss with a check, insisting she record a holiday album that had at least one original track on it. Anxiety accumulated for months, Bliss said, due to a massive dose of writer’s block.
“I remember calling Chuck over and over, telling him I couldn’t do it,” she said, “but he kept saying, ‘Yes you can; you’ll figure it out.’ He really believed in me.”
“Christmas With My Single Friends” came to be and opens with Pennington on voicemail: “Hi and Merry Christmas — this is Chuck. You have to leave a message because I’m out for the night.” It was recorded, unbeknownst to him, during one of their phone calls. When the album was finished, the two
celebrated by popping champagne and listening to it from start to finish. Bliss said when Pennington heard himself, he was stunned.
“So I have Chuck Pennington’s voice forever more,” she said. “The album never would have come to pass without him. He pushed me outside of my comfort zone.”
Despite Pennington’s health declining in the last year, his positivity remained steadfast, Bliss said. He traveled after selling The Verandas — going to India, Kenya, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
“He’s been to 39 countries throughout his life,” Jarvis said, including hanging with the gorillas in Africa and driving a tank into Chernobyl. Upon Pennington’s visit to India, he met a maharaja and the visit was one he considered sacred.
“Chuck was a man of many layers,” Jarvis said, “and I think that’s one of the reasons why we connected. But he connected with so many people for different reasons.”
Charged with fulfilling his friend’s last wishes, Jarvis oversees a trust that will fund Pennington’s School of Music in India, as well as various nonprofits and charities in Wilmington.
As for the Verandas, Alfalla said she fell in love with the home the first time she saw it.
“It felt frozen in time,” she described. “Usually, you start a list of what you’d do differently, but I just wanted to leave it alone.”
Lois Potratz, Pennington’s realtor and close friend, gave Alfalla a tour. She and Pennington had never met before the sale; Potratz told her afterward that she knew when she met them, they were the right fit.
Potratz called Pennington a friend who embodied “a place you go home to.” They would catch up over significant life changes, when funny events took place or over “really good gossip.”
But what she loved most was his consistent worldview through rose-colored glasses.
“Chuck had this unique ability to see people, events, things, houses — not as they were but as they could be. And in his mind they were already transformed. Or he would transform them,” she said. “I saw it time and time again. Just like when he saw the Verandas the first time. Or downtown in general.
Or every one of his friends, including me. … I will miss him.”
Once the Verandas’ sale was complete, Alfalla met Pennington to learn from his years of expertise and began picking his brain for knowledge on the ins and outs of running The Verandas. She adheres to his advice: no detail is too small. From Pennington’s point of view, a guest will take notice of the care and thought put into every corner of the operation.
“His standard is the one we keep,” she said.
Business advice aside, Alfalla said their friendship evolved and Pennington was the first person she called at 2 a.m. when The Graystone — the hospitality group’s other bed and breakfast — burned in downtown Wilmington.
“He answered that call with a lot of grace and then he stayed,” she said. “He was tied into this community in ways I wasn’t yet, and he helped me maneuver through the following weeks — who to call, what to expect.”
Alfalla said she feels honored to continue the legacy of Pennington and Madsen. Operating the bed and breakfast is more than “managing an asset,” but goes hand-in-hand with Pennington’s outlook. He once told the media about The Verandas: “You don’t really own a place like this. You’re just caretakers.”
Chuck Pennington’s celebration of life will take place on Sunday, Aug. 30, 3 p.m., at The Verandas. Gail Bliss will sing “Amazing Grace” and the public is encouraged to tell their best “Chuck story.”
A note from Jamie Alfalla, the current owner of The Verandas Bed & Breakfast
Caring for The Verandas in Chuck’s place is an honor. To continue his legacy is a responsibility we don’t take lightly.
He and Dennis didn’t have children. They put their lives and poured their hearts into The Verandas, and when it came to me I understood I wasn’t buying a property. I was being trusted with something two people raised. Lois knew that when she chose us.
Chuck is the kind of friend that answers at 2 a.m. When he was needed, he was there. The night Graystone had a fire, he answered at two in the morning and then he answered every time after that — through the weeks after, when I wanted to disappear and he wouldn’t let me. Later, without telling me, he salvaged the fire-damaged stair railings from our grand foyer, had them restored, and gave them back. He never mentioned it. He just noticed what I’d lost and quietly went and got a piece of it back. The word on his headstone is resilient, and it’s the right word — but he never kept it for himself.
He lent his resilience to others when they needed it. He lent it to me.
He was the fun and the light in every room. He loved big and played hard. Spending time with him was an adventure, and he went out of his way to make me — and everyone around him — smile. He was thoughtful and kind. He took care of the people in his life.
He is loved deeply, and will always be greatly missed.
