Historic Crown Court

For years, every guest who arrived at the Orange Hotel was met at the front door by "Pooch" — a friendly dog who served as the hotel's unofficial doorman. His tail-wagging welcome became so much a part of the experience that when Pooch was struck and killed by a car in March 1946, columnist J.R. Harkreader devoted his entire "Maybe I'm Wrong But—" column to mourning the loss. He wrote that entering the hotel without Pooch was like arriving in St. Petersburg on a cloudy day — technically the same place, but missing something essential.

In January 1963, the Chronicle profiled Mrs. Nash of Jonesboro, Arkansas, who had been returning to the Orange Hotel for 27 consecutive years. She and her husband had stumbled upon Inverness while driving from Clearwater, drawn in by the delicious food and warm atmosphere. She recalled the golden days when Aunt Tom had to turn away hundreds of guests each winter. Despite the hotel's decline under newer owners, Mrs. Nash kept returning — a testament to the loyalty the building inspired.

When Thomas Dryburg and P.C. Hyland purchased the Crown Hotel from the Sumners in November 2001, they promised restoration. Instead, they fired staff before Christmas, ran off the Rotary Club, and got into a shouting match that turned physical with a 66-year-old woman holding a dinner coupon. Over Labor Day weekend 2002, they disappeared entirely — taking prime cuts of beef from the freezer, all their comforters, bar supplies, and expensive security cameras. As the Tampa Bay Times noted: "You don't have to be TV's CSI team to see that this is a one-way trip." The building was left staggering, with unpaid bills and bewildered employees asking police if they should padlock the doors.

Larry LaFond began working at the Crown Hotel as a teenager in 1986 and stayed until 1992. Decades later, from California, he compiled an exhaustive blog — thecrownhotel.blogspot.com — with photographs, newspaper clippings, ownership records, and personal memories. His work has become the single most comprehensive source on the building's history and has been cited by the Chronicle, the City of Inverness, and researchers. Without his dedication, much of this story would have been lost.

When the Citrus County Chronicle asked how the new ownership's technology-driven vision would honor a 136-year-old building, the answer was direct: bring the past into the future. Under VSEVA Crown Court, with Vera Healthcare Florida LLC (DBA Vera Assisted Living, Inverness Downtown) managing operations as the innovation and ideas partner, the building that once hosted Churchill's Restaurant now houses The Fox & Hounds Tavern — a resident-exclusive sports bar reimagined in 2026 from the 1981-era Fox and Hound pub, with new commissioned paintings on its walls. The grand staircase still stands. The walls still hold over a century of Inverness history. And residents now live where winter visitors once checked in, where brides once descended the stairs, and where a dog named Pooch once greeted everyone who walked through the door.