Although there are only four guest rooms at this inn, you’re pampered as if it were a luxury hotel. Not surprising, consideringit has a staffof22! Although these employees also run the award-win-fling restaurant, there is always someone to cosset you. Innkeepers Alice Pitcher and Kemper Peacock have undoubtedly created one of the state’s most romantic hideaways. Old Drover’s is one of only three Relais & Chateaux properties in Upstate New York.
One of the most wonderful things about the inn is its age: It’s nearly 250 years old. It was opened byJohn and Ebenezer Preston in 1750 as the Clear Water Tavem, and it hosted many of the area’s cat-tle drovers on their way to New York City. Since then, the deed has only changed hands three times, and the inn has always been open for business. You can absolutely feel the authenticity of the place. You may notice a slight rise and fall as you walk across the entry-way’s undulating floorboards, and if you’re over 6-feet-i, you may have to duck when you’re in the dining room.
The idiosyncratic charms of the house are matched by the great mix of furniture styles—a Louis XVI—style chair here, an American Chippendale there. There are plenty of places for lounging, from the library with down-filled couches and many, many books, to the sitting room, to the property’s 12 acres. |
