Historic Hassinger Daniels Mansion Bed & Breakfast listed for sale

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The exterior of the Hassinger Daniels Mansion, located on Highland Avenue. (Greater Alabama MLS)
The exterior of the Hassinger Daniels Mansion, located on Highland Avenue. (Greater Alabama MLS)

The historic home at 2028 Highland Avenue South—better known as the Hassinger Daniels Mansion Bed and Breakfast—recently hit the housing market. Learn more about this historic residence + find out how you could be the next owner.

About the Hassinger Daniels Mansion

Hassinger Daniels Mansion
One of the rooms inside the Hassinger Daniels Mansion. (Greater Alabama MLS)

Built in 1898, the Hassinger Daniels Mansion is a Victorian / Queen Anne house located on Highland Avenue. According to BhamWiki, the home was originally built for William H. Hassinger and designed by Thomas Walter III, a Birmingham architect and grandson Thomas Ustick Walter, who designed the U. S. Capitol dome.

After William H. Hassinger and his wife moved to Redmont Park’s Hassinger Castle in 1929, the mansion on Highland Avenue was rented by Roy and Veona Daniels starting in 1946, who used the home as an office and residence. Dr. Daniels, an optician, operated Daniels Optical from the home and had pediatricians, accounts, bookkeepers and dentists in the building.

The mansion itself is only one of two surviving homes from its era in Highland Park. Click here to learn more about the home’s history.

In December 2010, Sheila and Ira Chaffin purchased the mansion from Veona Daniels in order to restore and use the space as a bed and breakfast. The couple previously restored a historic home in Southside, operating it as the Cobb Lane Bed & Breakfast until 2020.

“After a five year construction process, we began operating the Hassinger Daniels Mansion as a bed and breakfast. And before that, we operated the Cobb Lane Bed & Breakfast for 17 years, from 2003 until 2020.”

Sheila Chaffin, Owner, Hassinger Daniels Mansion Bed & Breakfast

During the pandemic, Sheila Chaffin created two “Gnome Villages” on and around the trees outside of the Hassinger Daniels Mansion.

Listed for sale

Hassinger Daniels Mansion
Inside the Hassinger Daniels Mansion. (Greater Alabama MLS)

The Hassinger Daniels Mansion was listed on the real estate market on October 1st. Click here to view the full listing.

The listing description for the Hassinger Daniels Mansion states:

Rare opportunity to own an 1898 National Historic Registered Victorian Mansion thoroughly renovated in 2015 at establishment of a bed and breakfast. The mansion has 12 bedrooms 14 bathrooms, kitchen-dining room-living room, 8 fireplaces, 9 parking spaces, a garden gazebo for weddings and special occasions, numerous crystal chandeliers, 12 foot ceilings with crown moldings, an ornate family stair case with rotunda shaped stained glass and a separate former servants less ornamentation servants stair, a large 3,000 square foot finished space that can be altered for more guest rooms or event space or commercial usage. The new owner should increase guest room rates, hold events, or convert the Mansion to a uses permitted in the B-2 commercial zone. It is located in the City’s designated Culinary District boasting 25 restaurants within 3 walkable blocks along with 3 elegant restaurants awarded the finest restaurants in the US by the James Beard competition.

According to owner Sheila Chaffin, her decision to sell the Hassinger Daniels Mansion was motivated by her desire to spend more time with her grandchildren, who do not live in Birmingham. Her hope is that the next owner of the building would be someone delighted by the home’s historic Victorian character.

“I hope that the next owner is a turnkey bed and breakfast owner that is delighted by our sense of design and taste. This building is Victorian, both inside and out, and is on the Historic Register. It is perfect for someone who has been waiting for a Victorian home to come on to the market.”

Sheila Chaffin, Owner, Hassinger Daniels Mansion Bed & Breakfast

If you are interested in touring the Hassinger Daniels Mansion to learn more about the listing, you can view the listing online or click here to contact the realtor.

Nathan Watson
Nathan Watson

Senior Content Producer + Photographer

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