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Simply the best! Our Inspected, upscale, romantic and historic limestone B&B from ca 1750, is nestled quietly in the perfect location in the heart of the Amish area of Lancaster County, PA on a 15 acre farm with sheep and small scale Maple Syrup production. Quality, luxury and real Old World charm!
Our Diamond Collection award winning historic Inn with slate roof and beautiful stone work has been expertly renovated and restored. Offering eight quiet, romantic and luxurious rooms and suites with private baths, hairdryers, Jacuzzis, fireplaces, individual A/C, TV, DVD, phone and free Wireless internet access.
Luxury is evident in the large relaxing common areas, the unique intimate 'Bar' and covered porch areas and gardens. Knowledgeable local owners/hosts , who live at the Bed and Breakfast, will personally make sure your stay and your tasty gourmet breakfast are just perfect.
We are perfectly located in the middle of the Lancaster County Amish area where the majority of the Amish live and work. Physically we are about 4 miles east of downtown Lancaster and 2 miles north of Strasburg; just about 1/2 mile from the US 30 and Rt 896 intersection. While at the Inn you have feeling of being miles away from civilization on our 15 acre farm, yet you are still able to go to any of the area attractions within minutes.
Breakfast is served at your individual table in our 'Dining Room & Bar' areas with soft background music. We like fresh food so we make yours hot off the stove as you come down to enjoy your start to the day. Generally, we serve between 8:30am and 9:30am but times may need to be shifted at rare occasions. Our breakfast consists of a chef's choice of breakfast entree which varies from day to day accompanied by an individual fresh appetizer, hot Colombian coffee, assorted teas and multiple choices of fruit juices. We generally serve vegetarian dishes that can be enjoyed by everyone.
Our chef's specialty is 'Pannekoeken', Dutch style pancakes. These are served rolled crepe style with a choice of fillings (Chef's suggestion is cinnamon sugar. It is the Best!), always accompanied by fresh local and tropical fruits and served decorated with fresh homegrown edible flowers and herbs in season. Other selections that may be served are: Almond crusted French toast fingers with homemade maple syrup. Soft fluffy country omelet with fresh caramelized leeks and portabella mushrooms, cheese, bacon and toast on the side. Quiche du-jour possibly with pine nuts, basil and sun dried tomatoes. Our appetizers vary from fresh grapefruit or fresh fruit cups in season. Other choices include homemade banana or zucchini bread, pumpkin muffins,overloaded blueberry muffins or fresh fruit parfaits.
Our beautiful limestone mansion with slate roof, located in the heart of Lancaster County's Amish Country, was built in 1750. We have 15 acres of farm and wood land. The stream, called Willow Run, that runs by our pond actually originates from the springhouse on the property. We believe the occupancy of the estate went through five phases. The first homestead was the two story springhouse on the property. In the lower section of the springhouse you can see the origin of the Willow Run Stream. The spring comes in through the one wall, at approximately 300 gal/min, and runs out the other side and under our bridge. The first floor has a historic fireplace. It is an open room with a wooden floor. In the back corner next to the fireplace behind a small door is a curved small staircase leading to the second floor. Unfortunately, because the access to the second floor is so small it is almost impossible to move furniture up there. It is a must see.The second home built started the formation of what is now the main building. This much smaller section would most likely have been what we are presently using as the dining room, the bar, and the White Pine room. During renovations we found evidence of an old fireplace and staircases. The stones were charred on one side. We also found evidence of an old stairway. In the stone wall we found a hidden doorway with two very worn stair treads that over the years have been closed off. The wood work in these sections is in a different, simpler style from the other rooms in the house. The third stage was the largest part of the house in the front. Dating the wood work in this section places it approximately in the early 1800's. On the first floor the rooms added would have been the entranceway, stairs, living room and the Hazelnut room. On the second floor the Magnolia and Copper Beech Suites were added. And finally, the entire third floor. The fourth section built added the kitchen and additional servant's quarters. Historically the kitchen was kept separate from the house because of worries about possible fire. The final fifth section was built in 1948 by the previous owners. They added the wing that branches off the kitchen section at an angle. It was used as a casual living room and for large parties.
The house has a total of over 7500 square feet of living space (not including the full basement or the unheated attics) that was completely renovated by us and finished in January of 2007 after three years of sweat and labor. Where possible we maintained the original layouts, woodwork and flooring. We recycled as much as possible and had wood moldings remade to match if needed. Modern and fully equipped bathrooms were added to ensure each room had it's own private bathroom. All utilities were renewed and brought up to code. New geothermal heating and cooling was installed and state of the art security, phone & networking systems and whole house sound systems added. Behind the scenes computer controls to manage these systems was installed. Despite of all these improvements the house is still over 95% original giving it that real old and historic house feel that we didn't want to destroy. In late 2006 we added the beautiful board-and-batten barn and new driveway.
Our wood paneled bar is centrally located in the building. It is a great place to hang out, chat or play games at any of the high pub tables and it transforms from a coffee bar to a juice bar and anything in between. The striking Black Walnut bar top is unique as it is shaped to the form of the original tree that the wood came from with knots and burls. The bar room was built to reflect a European style 'Brown Cafe' with it's dark mahogany woodwork, faux tin ceiling and casual, yet elegant, feel. The bar is regularly used as an extension to the dining room for our bed and breakfast guests. If our house is rented for a party the caterer can make use of it for an alcoholic bar as needed. Our guests can make their own coffee or tea here and it also has an icemaker, refrigerator and microwave. The room has hardwood flooring, a beautiful gas fireplace, and a large 10 foot high antique corner cabinet. There is a beautiful set of antique French doors that lead into our sunken dining room.
You enter our house from the parking lot through the entrance way into the sunken dining room and the reception area where you will check-in for your stay. Access to our house is safe yet convenient with our keyless entry system, so you can come and go any time you please.
The dining room's tiled floor is inlaid with a ‘Dutch Tulips’ quilt pattern. The dining room has five sets of individual tables and breakfast is served on fine, colorful Pfalzcraft stoneware. Tables can be arranged to accommodate any group sizes. Soft music will play during our gourmet, two course breakfast and while having entertaining conversations.
There are twin built-in glass antique corner cabinets from the late 1700's. Sets of doors lead to the kitchen, bar, the parking lot, and the flagstone courtyard with built in barbeque where breakfast can be served outside on beautiful summer mornings. Walking up the two steps through antique French doors one enters the wood paneled bar where additional tables are available during busy times at breakfast.
Our grand living room is thirty-two feet long and sixteen feet wide. Centered in the room is the romantic, real wood burning, fireplace with original mantle. We have several groups of very comfortable sitting areas that accommodate different groups of people. Even with multiple groups you can be comfortable, and yet feel individual enough from the other guests. It is large enough for parties and decorated so that small groups can still feel comfortable.
The antique grandfather clock gives you an old fashioned feel with it's Westminster chimes. Our curved glass china cabinet has a mixture of American and European antiques for you to enjoy and the room is decorated with original art. For those who love to puzzle or play games we have an 8 person game table. There are two sets of French doors that lead out onto the covered south porch and side/front yard.
On our small farm we mainly plant items for our own use to support the production of maple syrup, raise sheep and possibly maintain a small herd of cattle in the future. The main crops will be soy, hay and alfalfa besides the walnut trees and of course Maple Syrup from our own Maple grove. Besides the sheep roaming around we generally have a vegetable garden (with a special section for many varieties of hot peppers), herb garden and beautiful formal flower garden in front of the house from where we can cut fresh flowers for breakfast daily.
Besides our limestone house, there is a spring house, a four car garage and a newly built barn. We have ducks and sheep on the property year round. If you come during early spring you can see the new born lambs. We plan to increase our own maple syrup production so we have recently planted an additional 50 maple trees. In the fall you can take as many Black and English walnuts or Butternuts as you can handle home with you.