Hitchcock was inspired by the Second Empire style of architecture that featured in Edward Hopper's paintings of buildings in the eastern seaboard states. The Whitehaven is a rescued treasure of the same deep-porched, mansard-roofed style, but much more welcoming. 

If the appeal for you of Hitchcock's Bates Motel in Psycho is not the en suite excitement but the architecture (those ornate dormer windows, the steep roof, the charming porch...) then the Whitehaven Hotel delivers many of the same features of all-American Second Empire style. Plus genuine, roll-out-the-Welcome-Mat hospitality, without the drama.

Hitchcock was inspired by Edward Hopper's painting The House by the Railroad  which now hangs in the MoMA, New York. The Whitehaven has the weatherboard cladding: tick. Wrap-around porches: tick. Mansard roof: tick. The Romanesque round-headed dormers may be missing, but who's quibbling? There's charm a-plenty in the seven guest rooms, and plenty to do in the surrounding area, from bird-watching to visiting local artists' studios and the world's largest museum of decoy ducks (yes, truly).

Two of the guest rooms have working fireplaces (for those chilly nights). Expect antiques, quilts, crocheted blankets and quirky arrangements of little pictures on the walls. There are rockers on the main porch overlooking the Wicomico River. And if you arrived by boat you can tie up at the Whitehaven Marina across the street.