The Hornsby House has a new member of their team, Jeanette Corey! More than likely, Jeanette’s smile and warm welcome are the first things you will see and hear upon your arrival. We wanted to introduce her here on the blog and give you a little of her story! So, without any further ado…

Where are you from, Jeanette?

I had a geographic patchwork of a childhood thanks to a father in the Army, but my family settled in Norfolk for my last two years of high school and I attained my degree at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. I “came of age”, if you will, in southeastern Virginia, so it’s also the place I feel the most rooted.

You studied voice in college… what are your future plans with your musical endeavors?

I studied classical vocal performance in college with a minor in literature, and am taking a breather to work in an unrelated field while I try to figure out what I’d like to study going forward in my education. That said, I enjoy performing, and I’m very excited to be working at the Hornsby House because they’ve given me the green light to do a recital series in the beautiful living room of the house! The first one will likely be in November, and I’m planning on having that be a program of American composers. I’ll also be singing with the Virginia Chorale down in Norfolk this season, which should be fun!

What is something you recommend every guest does in Yorktown?

I feel like the sunsets get a lot of (rightful) attention here, what with schooner silhouettes against a watercolor sky on the river…I agree, it’s beautiful. But my advice to anyone staying in town is to conquer the lethargy of a vacation morning and go for a sunrise walk around historic main street, particularly through the garden lawn of the Nelson house. It’s quiet, the deer are awake with you, cool morning air in summer is EVERYTHING, and the light is so, so gorgeous.

What is your favorite room in the Hornsby House?

My favorite room in the house is the Magnolia, which is decorated as the most feminine of them all. I think, because of that and because of the relatively small size, it also feels the least formal to me. There are enough windows to insure it looks airy all day, and the tree branches outside dance the lightest patterns through the windows…I love it! I just love it.

If you could choose one historical figure to come stay at the inn from yorktown’s history, who would it be?

Oh my goodness, I’m trying so hard to think of anyone but Lafayette but I just can’t, he’s too interesting! Can you imagine being a central figure in the revolutions of two countries?! I want to know how he viewed class as a factor in American revolutionaries, coming from such a privileged background himself but being in a place where class was being determined differently from his own background. I want to know which revolution felt the most tactically comfortable for him as a commander–if the intimate knowledge of place in France made it more or less difficult to make decisions in conflict as opposed to a strictly militant, mostly sight-unseen experience here. I want to know  whether he felt more emotional “buy-in” in either war, because I can easily see that going either way. Too many questions for a dinner party, but maybe enough time if he stayed a week…

Thanks, Jeanette!