Eastern Shore’s Oaks Waterfront Inn completes renovation (Gary Cooper once slept there)

Popular Eastern Shore wedding destination The Oaks Waterfront Inn, halfway between St. Michaels and Easton, Maryland, has completed a $10 million renovation — just in time for the upcoming wedding season.

Co-owners Scott and Tracy Wagner oversaw the historic property’s renovations, which includes a new lobby, ballroom improvements, 11 newly designed guest suites, four newly constructed cottages, and a new restaurant and bar.

“Becoming the new owners of this historic property meant taking on a huge responsibility of updating it for today’s upscale visitor, while holding on to the charm that has drawn visitors here for over a century,” Tracy Wagner said.

Guest room heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems were all updated as part of the renovation. The inn’s 10 acres have been newly landscaped and the shoreline was improved. A new glass structure was added to the dock for additional events space.

Beyond weddings, The Oaks Waterfront Inn also hosts conferences and other events. It is open to the public for dinner and weekend brunch.

The property traces its history to an early 1900s boardinghouse.

Per the inn’s website: “During the early 1900s, one of the last silent films, ‘The First Kiss,’ was filmed in Easton. The stars of the film, Gary Cooper and Faye Wray, stayed at the inn during filming. Faye Wray was married on a skipjack on the Miles River while making the movie.”