CHESTERTOWN — Great Oak Manor, one of Maryland’s newest luxury boutique hotels located along Chesapeake Bay in bucolic and historic Kent Country on Maryland's Eastern Shore, welcomes and announces the appointment of Calin Taralunga as its new general manager. With a proven track record in the luxury hospitality industry, Taralunga is set to lead Great Oak Manor into a new era of growth and success.
As of 2022, this 12,000 sq ft. manor is newly owned by Werten Bellamy and his wife Kellye Walker who have overseen a full renovation property which was completed in May 2024.
Taralunga has more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry having started his career at JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel in Romania. In 2008, he relocated to the United States and assumed various management positions in hotel operations – both in Rooms and Food & Beverage Departments at Ritz Carlton Los Angeles, CA and Marriott International Hotels in Kansas City, MO and Phoenix, AZ. He continued his career development and joined La Cantera Resort & Spa in San Antonio, TX where he contributed to the resort’s success in different capacities. His most recent role was Resort Manager at Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels.
“Calin’s leadership is expected to bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to our new boutique hotel operations,” said Belamy. “My wife and I have learned that people need smaller scale, restorative environments to reconnect on many levels and we believe Great Oak Manor is an ideal place for us to continue our life mission of helping people build and maintain meaningful relationships...Our goal is to become a first-choice option for connection, learning, and wellness for solo travelers, couples, family, friend groups, and business retreats and are very deliberate in leveraging the rich history of the Manor and the surrounding area to help create the powerful shared experiences from which memories are created."
The property’s story began in 1659 when Josias Fendall, fourth colonial governor of Maryland, received the land as a gift from Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore and first proprietor of Maryland as part of a Colonial land grant that covered some 2,000 acres. The name Great Oak Manor is believed to refer to a large oak tree that marked one of the corners of the property.
This Georgian-style manor was designed and built in 1938 by Maryland architect Douglas Gorden Braik and was styled after an 18th-century English country retreat as a private residence for Russell D’Oench, heir to the W.R. Grace & Co. shipping company. Bricks from the ballast of Grace’s sailing ships were reportedly used to build the manor house. In the late 1940s-50s, Great Oak Manor was owned by a self-made businessman, Frank Russell, who ran his shore estate an exclusive premier club and (at the time illegal) casino, hosting celebrities such as President John F. Kennedy, American broadcaster and entertainer Arthur Godfrey, writer Ernest Hemmingway and actor Robert Mitchum. The property went through several changes of ownership beginning in the 1980s. In the late 1990’s Great Oak Manor became a 12-room inn, with a two-story attached Carriage House suite.
Under the new leadership, Great Oak Manor plans to introduce a new monthly series called "A Taste of Great Oak Manor 2025" that will launch as of January 2025 and will include specially curated weekends at Great Oak Manor with top chefs including 2024 James Beard winner Chef Masako Morishia, 2024 James Beard semi-finalist Chef Travis Milton and 2024 James Beard semi-finalist Chef Philip Ashley Rix among many others. The Taste of Great Oak weekends include a champagne welcome, a fireside chat, an intimate cooking demonstration, curated meals, and a hands-on cooking lesson, all guided by the guest chef. The Taste of Great Oak chef experiences are available at $500/person, with event activity fee sold separately from room charges.
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