There are worse things than being snowbound in a cozy old farmhouse, with a fire in the woodstove, an endless supply of homemade chocolate chip cookies, plenty of reading material, and nonstop improv by a variety of feathered creatures, interrupted only by an occasional squirrel or a neighborhood cat.
The rambling country inn dates from 1797, according to innkeeper Mason Cobb. It began as a farmhouse, operated for many years as Bartlett's Tavern, and has been an inn since 1959. Cobb and his wife, Cyndi, bought the place in 2000.
The innkeepers live on the property in a renovated antique barn. Another barn is used for storage and as the pool house. The hulking, brown, wood-shingled structures contrast nicely with the white house, creating a quintessentially New England scene, artfully spotlighted at night.
Our room on the second floor of the main inn was spacious, with lemon yellow walls. The bed linens and drapes were a yellow, cream, and cranberry combination of florals and plaids, a decorating scheme that doesn't seem as if it should work, but it does. The queen-size bed had a high, carved oak headboard. There was a comfortable sitting area with two upholstered chairs and a floor lamp. In fact, there were five lamps in the room, making it easy to read just about anywhere. Floral carpets covered wide-board pine floors. Two deep windows looked onto the same pastoral scene as the library on the floor below. We liked the fact that there was more wall decor than necessary -- prints, framed mirrors, a bas-relief -- which made the room feel homey. We missed a thermostat in the room; we were chilly the first night and warm the second. We didn't have a fireplace, though many of the rooms do.
The shower-only bathroom was small but well appointed with thick, absorbent towels, a hair dryer, and the inn's signature silk petal soaps -- colorful silk rose petals dipped in glycerin soap and dried.
The most luxurious accommodations are two suites in the carriage house, which have two-person whirlpools, rainfall showerheads, fireplaces, and decks overlooking the in-ground pool.
