So many of you have asked about the layout of the inn...I admit is is difficult to imagine being in it in person! When we first moved here, for a week, I found myself going up or down the wrong staircase to try and reach a room I was aiming for. It's not that the house is that big, but the way that the two houses are joined together make some things really connected, and some things not. And it took a few days to figure it out. :)
These are VERY ROUGH plans...yes, I can do better, but these will give you the general gist of everything, and then you can go online and see photos of the particular rooms for windows, and fireplaces, and if you still have questions, please ask! (BTW, yes the fireplaces work. The basement and dining room have gas stove inserts, the rest we burn ecologs in, seasonally.)
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English basement...only 2 steps up/down to outside, big windows in each room. The bottom of the page is the front of the building. We currently live on this level.There is one full bath, and one half-bath. The floor is poured concrete, or loose-laid brick. The front two rooms are approximately 20' x 21'
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The main level to the inn...double pink front doors and the porch are shown at the bottom of the page. We call the joining hall the Breezeway, and it's got a sofa/chairs/guest kitchen area and half-bathroom. The ceilings are about 10' high. Great wood floors, all have been refinished except the Peony Room. Again, not exactly proportional - most rooms have a king bed plus other furniture and plenty of room to move about. Refer to photos for a reference of what the individual rooms look like, this will give you an idea of their relationship to one another. The room we currently use as an office was an enormous guest room when we first came - with a separate bedroom, and sitting room, and we used it as such for a while. It had an entrance from the back porch, but we closed off the bedroom area (could be reopened easily) for our massage room, and still found the space plenty big enough for either a guest room or...an office/sitting area for us. This fireplace has a gas line to it, but currently no gas logs or stove, because we just didn't need it set up that way.
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This is the third floor of each house...they are not connected to each other, and both the Willow and the Robin's Nest rooms have windows that look out onto the Breezeway rooftop/skylights/and at the shingle roof of the 1832 portion of the inn. The front windows look out over the front lawn and vineyard. These two rooms have exposed beamed ceilings, very high. The Dogwood room is the charming peaked attic room...we lived in this area when we first moved here, because it is very large. The small room to the right has a built-in daybed under the eaves.
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Last important building on the grounds (we didn't count the toolshed, gazebo and chicken coops as 'important') is the Cottage. We have it divided into two rooms that we rent separately, though it's fun for a group too. We never lived out here because it's so popular - but if you were looking for a bit of privacy, this is an adorable space for owner's quarters. Originally, it was built in the 1990's for the previous owner's aging parents, so it actually has plumbing for a kitchen, and 220v for a stove. It's about 300 feet from the back of the inn. Very modern feel, with vaulted ceilings, and attic storage accessed by pull-down stairs. There is also storage underneath, accessed around the back under the deck, because this is built on a slight slope...the front is just slightly above ground level, the deck outback is about 8 feet off the ground.
Hope this helps! It's fun imagining how the spaces could be used differently. When we came, the basement level was the restaurant...the rooms on the left were the dining rooms, and the room connected to the full bath was a guest room. We have used these rooms as dining rooms also, but a few years ago decided to move the dining room upstairs. It does make for lots of carrying up and down from the kitchen, but we also have a lovely brick patio that we serve breakfast on when the weather is nice - and that's out the side door, on the basement level (to reiterate - it doesn't really feel like a basement...the windows are big, and it's just 2 steps up to the patio or backyard to get outside. The kitchen also has really nice big windows beside the hood and stove....so it's bright.)
Happy planning, and happy writing! It's such fun to read the dreams and plans of everyone...I know that it's going to be tough to choose, but what an awesome day that will be, when we can finally call the winner! |
