Light and quiet and a lure to scenic Cape Cod

The Bursley Manor was once a dairy farm. The house has five fireplaces, all connected to a massive central chimney visible behind glass from a landing between the first and second floors. In the den, too, a section of wall has been cut away to reveal the brickwork of the chimney behind.

One of the surprising architectural features of the house, given its age, is the 12-foot-high ceilings. Distinctive stenciling by Cape Cod decorative painter Lindsay Hopkins also adds interest, from trailing greenery along the edges of the hardwood floor in the den to wisteria vines covering most of a wall in the Wisteria Room.

Owner Sheila Bournival is a newcomer to the bed-and-breakfast business -- this summer was her first season -- and we attribute a few glitches during our stay to her inexperience.

Because we reserved early, we had our choice of accommodations and chose the largest, the Wicker Room. A second-floor corner room, it had three deep windows that let in much light and a spacious bathroom with a large Jacuzzi, hair dryer, and plush robes. The decor in cream and slate blue was soothing. True to its name, the room had a king-size bed with white wicker headboard, end tables, rocker, and chaise lounge. The rocker and lounge should have been ideal places to curl up with a book, but neither had a lamp nearby, leaving the bed the only place with enough light to read. The sun coming through those deep windows was pleasant during the day, but when dawn broke, we craved room-darkening shades.

Our room had a fireplace with a Duraflame log. After it had been burning for an hour or so, the room began to fill with smoke. All that was required was to push the log farther back in the fireplace so it caught the updraft from the chimney, but because there were no fireplace tools in the room, we had to rouse an innkeeper at midnight. Bournival said she has since outfitted all the fireplaces in the guest rooms with screens and tools.

In general, we would have liked more information and instructions: how to operate the fireplace, how to run the Jacuzzi, where to find stemware and a corkscrew, and what to see in the area.