In Search of a Gamekeeper --

All these years, most of our guests never knew what lay behind the long, low slung, mustard colored, tavern building just across the street from The Inn. They may have wandered through our shops inside, but if they ever walked through the rear door and came upon the vista by accident, they were stunned. They'd always remark that they had no idea such a magnificent view of the mountains was so close to the center of town.

We've just completed our first accommodation in this meadow (nicknamed the "field of dreams"). In its previous life, the Gamekeeper's Cottage was a simple appendage to the Mayor's House, the romantic 1740's suite which fronts Main Street. But Wayne Good, an Annapolis architect known for his historically accurate adaptations to old buildings entered the picture.

By adding the folly of an outdoor dining pavilion where one can have breakfast while gazing out at the view, the "appendage" has taken on a new life. Guests tell us that they feel as if they are on safari as they watch the deer come to eat the apples from the trees all around the place. The enormous sense of serenity and closeness to nature extends to the interiors as well. Done in what we refer to as "elegant rusticity" with wood paneling, a gorgeous stone fireplace, and loft bedroom with a second bath, the place feels like an adult's fantasy of a tree house. The amazement of it all is that it's just a few steps away from our main building -- yet so far removed.

In our over-active imaginings it would seem that this is surely where the gamekeeper must have lived at one time... in the shadow of the big house, close to nature, but at the ready if the lady of the house should require his presence.