Bed and Breakfast

Payson-Fettyplace House // 1845

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Behold, one of the finest, and well-preserved Greek Revival style homes in Salem. This is the Payson-Fettyplace House on Winter Street, built in 1845 with its gable facing the street to create a pediment, a wide entablature and cornice, and pilasters on the flushboard façade, which together make the building read more like a Greek temple than a residential home. The residence was built for Edward H. Payson, a bank officer, and his wife, Amelia, who lived in the home for only two years before moving into a larger residence across the street just two years after this house was completed. The property was sold to a Carleton Dole of Maine and again sold in 1850 to Thomas J. Fettyplace. The Fettyplace family were based out of Marblehead and many of them relocated to Mobile, Alabama, to make money in the cotton and shipping industry in the South. Thomas purchased this home in Salem for his mother who spent her final years here until 1861. After the Civil War, the Fettyplace brothers would move back north and this home remained in the family until 1912. The house is now a bed & breakfast known as the Amelia Payson House, named after the original owner.

Saugerties Lighthouse // 1869

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

A landmark beacon on the Hudson River in New York, the Saugerties Lighthouse is a venerable aid to navigation and historically significant structure in the town of Saugerties. The first lighthouse here was built in 1835 and replaced in 1869 by the present structure, being the oldest lighthouse on the upper Hudson. The structure was important to the industry and later growth and development of the area as it provided aid to boatmen in trouble as well as providing a light and fog bell to warn ships of river hazards. The Saugerties Lighthouse was automated in 1954, making the light keepers obsolete. The building was closed up. Due to neglect, it fell into disrepair and decay and the Coast Guard proposed to demolish the structure in 1964. Local residents began to actively preserve and protect the lighthouse and funding was acquired to restore and recommission the structure, which occured in 1990. The Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy today maintains and preserves this important historical asset and the lighthouse is even available for a short-term stay as a bed & breakfast, allowing visitors to serve as a lighthouse keeper for a weekend (without having to keep the lantern running.)

Oldfield – John Moseley House // 1818

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Federal style houses are among my favorite styles! From the classical design details to the symmetrical facades, there are so many great examples of Federal style houses in New England. This house in Southbury, Connecticut dates to 1818 and was built by John Moseley (1775-1876), who lived to be 100 years old, and married twice, outliving both of his wives. According to a family history, Moseley personally went to Maine to pick out the wood used to build his house as there were no large trees left in the area when house construction began in 1818. In the early 1900s, the house was updated with a rear addition, built from a structure moved from across the street and attached to Oldfield, and with the addition of the large Colonial Revival style portico at the front entry. The house has been a bed & breakfast since the 1990s, originally called Cornucopia at Oldfield, it is now known as the Evergreen Inn.

Blue Hill Inn // c.1830

Buildings of New England4 Comments

The major part of this structure in Blue Hill, Maine was built as a house around 1830 by Edward Varnum Stevens. Stevens started an inn in his home likely after his marriage to wife, Susannah Hinckley. When Edward died in 1857, the property was acquired by Haskell W. Hinckley in 1858, who was possibly Susannah’s brother. Hinckley was a sea captain and his wife, Fanny Hinckley operated the hotel here for 50 years, known as the Blue Hill House. The hotel became a social center for the community and became a gathering place for many. The structure, now known as the Blue Hill Inn, continues to welcome visitors today. The elongated Federal/Greek Revival style house is excellently preserved inside and out, and guests can stay in one of the 11 gorgeous suites inside, which take you back in time.

Glimmerstone // 1845

Buildings of New England1 Comment

What a treat it was to stumble upon one of the most beautiful homes in Vermont, and all the best houses have names! Glimmerstone is located in the small town of Cavendish, and is possibly the finest Snecked Ashlar constructed home in the state. The house was built in 1845 for Henry Fullerton, manager of the Black River Manufacturing and Canal Company mill in Cavendish. The stone used to build the house was quarried less than a mile away, and hauled to the site. The construction style consists of stone facing on either side of rubble fill, with slabs and snecks sometimes laid across the fill to provide strength, a method brought to the region by Scottish immigrant masons. The house’s design is by a local carpenter, Lucius Paige, and is based on designs published by Andrew Jackson Downing, who depicted many Gothic style designs in pattern books which were built all over the country. The house has had a number of owners after Mr. Fullerton died. During the prohibition era, Art Hadley, who would later become extremely wealthy as the inventor of the expansion bracelet, used the home as part of a rum running operation. Glimmerstone was purchased in 2010 by the current owners, who underwent a massive restoration of the home, converting it into a bed and breakfast, allowing the public to experience the property as well.

The Fountain Inn // 1740

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Located on Main Street in idyllic Ridgefield, in Fairfield County, Connecticut, The Fountain Inn provides one of the most welcoming and historical bed and breakfast experiences in New England! The Fountain Inn was built in 1740 as a “city home in the country” for David Hoyt, who showed off his wealth and stature in the young town by having such a high-style home built at the time. Decades later during the Revolutionary War, David Hoyt’s house became a part of the Battle of Ridgefield. After defeating the Colonial militia elsewhere on Main Street, British Gen. William Tryon‘s troops turned their attention to nearby Keeler Tavern, the local militia’s headquarters, which just happened to be neighbors with the mansion owned by David Hoyt, a known Loyalist. General Tryon’s troops practiced their artillery-firing skills on the building pummeling it with cannonballs, sending a message to the head of the local militia. David Hoyt formally demanded a cease-fire, as he was concerned about wayward cannonballs damaging his home. By 1790, with Ridgefield’s British influence diminishing by the day, David Hoyt finally left his Connecticut home and sailed back to England. The home was expanded and modernized over the next two hundred years until the present owners purchased the property and underwent a massive restoration of the Colonial house inside and out as their family residence. In the past year, the inn opened as the Fountain Inn so-named after a Cass Gilbert-designed fountain across the street.