Although it is housed in an 1863 Georgian-style mansion one minute from the Taconic Parkway, Le Chambord could easily be the focalpoint ofan antebellum Southern plantation. In fact, Scarlett O’Hara would feel right at home on its pillared veranda. The mansion’s involvement with things Southern is more than skin-deep, however: The trap door under the inn’s bar leads to a former stop on the Underground Railroad.
Miss O’Hara was not far from the mind of innkeeper Roy Benich when he named the latest additions to Le Chambord:
Tara Hall, containing 16 rooms; and Butler Hall, which has corporate and banquet facilities. Both structures are in keeping with the genteel traditions of the opulent dining and banquet rooms and the nine handsome bedrooms in the main building.
Roy, a former art-and-antiques dealer, has designed Le Chambord for aesthetic appeal and treats it as his home. “It’s my wife and children,” he says. He lives on the premises and laments that he works up to 19 hours a day on the inn and the restaurant. (You’ll know that he’s a bach-elor as soon as you see him in one of the outrageous neckties for which he is renowned.) He chooses all the art and an-tiques for the inn, from the dining room’s Chinese breakfront to the sofas and wing chairs covered in imported floral tapestries. No expense has been spared in selecting furniture and accessories— or food and wine, for that matter.
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