In 1934 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart escaped from Manhattan to this inn, which inspired their 1936 musical, On Your Toes, and its song “There’s a Small Hotelwith a Wishing Well.” Even today people call to ask if the wishing well is still there. It is, in the terraced garden with waterfalls and a trout pond.
Built as a private home in 1710, the inn became a stagecoach stop in 1796 and a hotel in 1832. Rooms are furnished with simple, tasteful Colonial-style repro-ductions and some antiques, and two suites share a balcony overlooking the smalltown ofStockton. Historic touches remain—eight bedrooms and the five dining rooms have working fireplaces— but the mood is more that of the famous “small hotel,” with modern conveniences like cable TV and in-room phones scheduled to be added by 1998. The inn corn-prises four buildings: the inn itself, two carriage houses, and a house across the street. All have similar rooms. A good restaurant serving contemporary American and Continental food keeps the place bustling.
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