Picture State Senator John B. McCreary's Victorian home rising at Gurney and Columbia Streets, built in 1870 by architect Stephen Decatur Button. This historic Victorian building was designed by Philadelphia architect Stephen Decatur Button and built for $20,000 between 1869 and 1870 for State Senator John B. McCreary, a Pennsylvania coal baron. Over the years the house has worn a few names — once the Christian Science Society and most recently The Abbey — and it became a contributing property in the Cape May Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
From 1979 to 2012 the structure welcomed guests as The Abbey Bed and Breakfast Inn; the owners during that period extensively restored the building and added a bathroom to each suite. The property was listed for sale in 2006 and sold in 2012; today it operates as a whole-house rental instead of as a B&B. The house is documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey as No. NJ-855, with photographs, measured drawings, and data pages preserving its record. Gurney and Columbia meet at this corner, where a Pennsylvania coal baron's $20,000 house now welcomes whole-house rental guests.