For Sale: A Victorian Boutique Hotel in Canada’s Prince Edward County Asks C$4.85 Million
Listed in the MICHELIN Guide, the 1878 Gothic Revival mansion in Picton, Ontario has 14 suites, a restaurant, bar, and wine cellar.
Merrill House, a heritage-designated Gothic Revival mansion in Picton, Ontario, has come to market for C$4.85 million, or about US$3.55 million, listed with Trevor Daniel Fontaine of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage.
Bedrooms: 14
Bathrooms: 18
Interior: 701 m² / 7,543 ft²
Lot: 0.43 ha / 1.07 acres
Amenities: 14 guest suites, restaurant and bar, commercial kitchen, wine cellar, conservatory dining room, event tent, barrel sauna, stone fire pit, landscaped grounds, six private balconies, and parking for approximately 25 vehicles.
Built in 1878 for local barrister Edwards Merrill by master builder J. W. Fegan, the three-storey red-brick residence sits on Main Street East in Picton, the historic heart of Prince Edward County. With its 13 gables, slender chimneys, narrow windows, decorative bargeboard, and tower, the building remains one of the town’s most distinctive Victorian landmarks.
Today, the property is configured as a 14-suite boutique hotel with restaurant and bar infrastructure, a commercial kitchen, event space, and a climate-controlled wine cellar with a Wine Spectator “Best of” Award of Excellence. It is not simply a Canadian period house for sale, but a heritage-listed building already adapted into a hospitality business in one of Ontario’s most visible wine-country markets.
The listing describes the property as set on 0.43 ha / 1.07 acres of landscaped grounds with mature trees, walkways, outdoor dining space, a stone fire pit, barrel sauna, covered event tent, and parking for approximately 25 vehicles.
Today, the property is configured as a 14-suite boutique hotel with restaurant and bar infrastructure, a commercial kitchen, event space, and a climate-controlled wine cellar with a Wine Spectator “Best of” Award of Excellence.
Prince Edward County sits in southeastern Ontario, about two hours east of Toronto, on a peninsula that projects into Lake Ontario between Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, and Montreal.
Not to be confused with Prince Edward Island, the County, or PEC, is separated from mainland Ontario by water and connected by bridges and causeways. That geography gives it a distinct waterfront identity, with beaches, sand dunes, lake views, and clear water forming part of its appeal.
Over the past two decades, the County has moved from a rural Lake Ontario region into one of Ontario’s best-known wine-country retreats, shaped by wineries, cideries, restaurants, beaches, historic towns, restored inns, and design-led hotels.
Picton is the County’s main town and historic centre. Merrill House is not positioned as a remote country inn, but as a town-centre hospitality property, close to Main Street, Picton Harbour, restaurants, shops, and the routes leading toward the County’s wineries and beaches.
That location matters. Prince Edward County has developed a recognizable boutique-hotel culture, with restored and design-led properties including The Royal Hotel in Picton, Drake Devonshire and Drake Motor Inn in Wellington, The June Motel, Wander the Resort, and other independent stays. Merrill House sits within that same shift: a historic building reworked for the way the County is now being experienced by visitors.
According to the listing, more than C$3 million has been invested into the property, with work spanning the interiors, bathrooms, landscaping, HVAC, and wine cellar.
By the time Jordan Martin de Rosales acquired the property in 2018, Merrill House had already spent decades as a country inn. What followed was less a cosmetic refresh than a full repositioning.
Martin, who had worked internationally in luxury hospitality and brand management, brought a collector’s eye to the 19th-century mansion. The 701 m² / 7,543 ft² interiors were rebuilt around art, antiques, hand-painted murals, layered rooms, and a more wine-led hospitality programme.
The property now has 14 guest suites, each with a private ensuite, along with six private balconies, refinished hardwood floors, exposed brick, marble wood-burning fireplaces, and vaulted 14- to 16-foot ceilings.
According to the listing, more than C$3 million has been invested into the property, with work spanning the interiors, bathrooms, landscaping, HVAC, and wine cellar. The listing also notes recent capital improvements including a new asphalt-shingle roof, stabilized chimneys, a Daikin heat-pump HVAC system, Viessmann gas boilers, in-floor heating, and 400-amp electrical service.
The result is a heritage building with a second commercial life: still recognizably Victorian, but now configured for contemporary boutique hospitality.
The food and beverage infrastructure remains central to the offer. While the restaurant is no longer operating, the property retains the framework for a hospitality programme, including a commercial kitchen, conservatory dining room, bar, and wine cellar with four climate-controlled zones.
The property’s hospitality use is also supported by site-specific zoning, which permits a hotel or inn of up to 15 rooms, along with a meeting room, catering kitchen, and restaurant.
At C$4.85 million, Merrill House is being positioned as a turnkey hospitality asset in a destination market where heritage buildings, wine tourism, restaurants, and design-led accommodation have become increasingly connected. The value is not only in the architecture, but in the fact that the building has already been adapted for the way Prince Edward County is now being used by visitors.
Merrill House is both a 19th-century Picton landmark and a contemporary hospitality venture. Its sale reflects the evolution of Prince Edward County itself, from a rural Ontario region into a wine, food, and boutique-hotel destination with growing appeal beyond Canada.
All photographs belong to the listing agency. See more on the original listing.