Time After Time
After a years-long renovation, the storied NuWray Hotel comes alive again
by Blair Knobel
MY SOUL SINGS IN PLACES LIKE THE NUWRAY, in Burnsville, North Carolina, in structures built solidly and lovingly, where the hardwood floor speaks the language of times past. This is a story of family, preservation, community, and hospitality that began in 1833. Bacchus Smith opened the hotel, a log structure featuring eight rooms, even before Burnsville’s Yancey County was formed. This original structure remains as the NuWray’s northwest side, and the original siding is on view in the hotel’s second-floor lobby.
James and Amanda Keith invested three years of sweat equity, breathing new life into the NuWray Hotel; photograph by Paul Mehaffey.
In 1867, Garrett Deweese Ray purchased the hotel and expanded it, naming it The Ray Hotel. When Julia, his daughter, and her husband William Brian Wray took it over after G.D.’s death, they renamed it the “NuWray,” a cheeky play on her married name, which phonetically mirrored her maiden one.
“Each room and suite bears the name of a famous North Carolinian or special location, such as the Thomas Wolfe Room and the Mt. Mitchell Suite.”
Julia and William amplified the property, including developing the renowned NuWray Restaurant. Hotel guests and Burnsville residents alike would flock to the restaurant for its “Southernboard” family-style spreads, featuring savory casseroles and homemade desserts, smoked ham, fried chicken, and other Southern delicacies. The smokehouse where former chef Will Roland would cure and smoke his famous hams still stands on the grounds, now an outdoor bar called Roland’s, where guests can raise a glass to the enterprising cook.
The nuWray hotel has a cozy yet elegant vibe that beckons guests to gather in front of the fireplace and sip a cocktail; Photography by Paul Mehaffey.
After decades owning and operating the hotel, the Wray family sold it outside of their clan, and it fell into disrepair for several years—until 2021, when its current owners Amanda and James Keith purchased the property and began a years-long uplift, reopening the NuWray in August 2024. The Keiths are young but well versed in hospitality management and restoration. The couple has painstakingly renewed the nearly 200-year-old hotel, updating the electrical and plumbing systems, adding HVAC for the first time, and restoring more than 100 historic windows. The Keiths have also sensitively salvaged parts of it, like an old phone booth and original wood beams, and have creatively incorporated details like the former wallpaper, which now hangs as framed works of art.
The NuWray is not only an example of a hotel brought back to life, it is a masterclass in historic preservation, honoring its decades-long life through innovative reuse—the former steam radiators are now an exterior fence—and allusions to its North Carolina home. Each room and suite bears the name of a famous North Carolinian or special location, such as the Thomas Wolfe Room and the Mt. Mitchell Suite.
In tackling the interior design, Amanda and James Keith struck a beautiful balance between retaining the historical integrity of the hotel and adding modern luxuries; photograph courtesy of The NuWray Hotel.
Beyond its museum-worthy details is a place that delivers the nuances of a boutique stay, with luxurious beds, flat-screen televisions, and new vintage-style bathrooms. In years past, NuWray guests would share a hall bath; now, each room has its own private one. Guests can relax on the hotel’s second-floor porch or by the fire with a good book and a warm cup. The hotel’s legendary NuWray Restaurant is open again with a menu of elegant dishes that evoke the spirit of Appalachia, including a few of Will Roland’s old recipes. In the morning, guests can enjoy a hearty complimentary buffet breakfast that many Burnsville residents claim is the best in town. This winter, the hotel’s former basement laundry room is set to open as Washroom Bar, a cozy, speakeasy-style space, with a focus on bourbon and craft cocktails.
Connecting to history is another way of connecting to who we are. The Keiths have embraced the challenge and deep reward of forwarding a decades-long legacy, which now is part of their own, and part of the lives of hundreds of NuWray guests whose stories will reverberate for generations to come. V
The NuWray Hotel, 102 Town Square, Burnsville, NC; (828) 678-7070, nuwray.com
This story appears in our Winter 2026 Issue.
