Shawn Nowlin shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
The Inn at Burwell Place is a 7,800-square-foot facility at 601 W Main Street. On most occasions, the building serves as a bed and breakfast. While no hot food service is available for overnight guests, each morning, a European continental breakfast in a picnic basket is placed outside of every guest’s room.
Weddings, receptions, business meetings and more also occur at the Salem building throughout each year. When people Google the Inn at Burwell Place, one of the first things that comes up are the amenities offered. Owner Cindy Lou says there is much more to Burwell Place than what meets the eye.
“We are a small Inn that has been in existence for over 100 years. Twenty-six years ago, I came down from Washington D.C. and purchased the property. As the owner and keeper, I basically do everything. I do though have some assistance with certain tasks around the house,” Lou said. “We take tremendous pride in our authenticity. We offer a variety of services and love to serve the people who walk through the doors.”
Recently, the Inn hosted a movie production set, something Lou says was an enjoyable experience. Explaining what it was like to host the cast and crew, Lou said, “I’ve done this on a much smaller scale before when we had just three or four person productions use our facilities. These young folks with this particular film started at 9 a.m. and worked their tails off for hours. They were complete professionals, and you could feel how passionate they were.”
Director Dylan Vox is a film, television and stage actor born and raised in the South. He relocated to Denver, Colorado, after graduating with two bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Political Science from Georgia Southern University. Years later, when he moved to California, he earned a Juris Doctrine degree from Pepperdine University.
Movies Vox has directed to date include Triassic World, A Beauty and the Beast Christmas, My Nightmare Landlord, The Christmas Sitters, Secrets on Sorority Row and Trapped Daughter. When the cameras showed up at the Burrell Place, it was to shoot footage for the upcoming movie, A Glass of a Revenge.
A murder mystery, the film is scheduled to appear on the Lifetime Movie Channel within the next six months. About 35 people were present to work on the film, said Lou who added, Dylan has family in Salem and went to school here too.
“I can’t wait to see the film on the big screen. It’s going to be really neat to see our facility in the background shown to a national audience,” she added.