Auctioneer helps sell B&B, then buys into it

Williams Summs Sr. has auctioned hundreds of properties in his 34 years as president of Atlantic Asset Management Group.

He never considered buying any of them before he stood at the podium to take bids for The Freemason Inn Bed & Breakfast. Even then, at the August auction for the 115-year-old house on York Street in Norfolk, he expected other local real estate owners to offer $550,000 or more for the fully furnished building.

No one did.

Summs’ brother and sister also had never bought any of the properties he sold but came to the Freemason Inn auction and bid $400,000. With theirs the only offer, Summs had them negotiate a deal with the sellers, who agreed to $430,000, plus 10 percent auctioneers’ fees.

At that point, Kathy Falkner and Fred Summs III insisted that their brother join them as a partner.

His arm successfully twisted, Summs and his siblings spent the past four months cleaning, painting and refurbishing the inn and getting a new city license to operate it. Late last month, they launched a website, touting Valentine’s Day specials.

Their first guests were scheduled to arrive Saturday. Summs, though, still sounds incredulous about his role as an innkeeper:

“I’m not in the B&B business. I’m in the auction business.”