What is a spruce little town like Snow Hill, Maryland, doing in among the chicken farms of the DelMarVa peninsula? For the answer, look to the narrow but deep Pocomoke River, which in the 17th and 18th centuries made Snow Hill a bustling port, frequented by tallmasted schooners sailing in from the Chesapeake. Today, you can stay at Chanceford Hall, a bed-and-breakfast inn that would have pleased any visiting Colonial dignitary. The mansion was constructed in three stages, beginning with the Georgian front section in1759.
Some 230 years later a pair of old-house restorers, Thelma and Michael Driscoll, moved in and turned Chanceford Hall into a homeplace. The Federal-style mantels, painted in cool Williamsburg greens and blues, match the moldings, and there are merino-wool mattress pads and down comforters on the lace-canopy beds. The house has seven working fireplaces and reproduction furniture crafted by Michael himself. Thelma welcomes guests with wine and hors d’oeuvres in the sitting room and will lend bikes or explain where to rent canoes for river exploring.
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