Travel & Leisure
Magazine | "Great American Drives - New York City to Kent, Connecticut"
Smart shopping, from antiques to boutiques
Distance 100 miles | Driving Time 2 hours
The Appeal
A self-reliant Yankee spirit permeates Main Street in Kent, a pre-Revolutionary village in Litchfield County where art galleries and antiques shops
coexist with bucolic cornfields. Cafés, boutiques, and independently owned bookstores occupy 19th-century houses set back from the street.
"The stores are personal reflections of their owners, who are usually on the premises," says local antiques dealer Elaine Friedman.
Driving Tips
From Manhattan, choose leafy Riverside Drive over the often jammed West Side Highway to the Henry Hudson Bridge. Pass up speedy I-87 and
684 for the far prettier route along the Saw Mill and Taconic parkways. The Taconic is called a parkway for a reason; the meandering four-lane highway
(no trucks or rest stops) has handsome stone bridges and rustic wooden guardrails. The final five-mile stretch of the drive, on Route 7 North to Kent’s
town center, hugs the Housatonic River and is one of the most picturesque parts.
Stop and Shop
Kent’s residents are beyond discerning—influential people from the worlds of fashion, publishing, the arts, and philanthropy own second homes here.
A refreshingly idiosyncratic mix of shops meets the exacting standards of locals and visitors alike. Friedman, the owner of Lyme Regis, Ltd. (43 N.
Main St.; 860/927-3330), makes twice-yearly visits to England to select her quirky assortment of oddities, from figural inkwells and snuffboxes to
vintage valentines. The boldest antiques are found at R. T. Facts (22 S. Main St.; 860/927-1700) where owners Natalie and Greg Randall stock
muscular griffins, statuary, and lanterns, for the home and garden. And B. Johnstone (4 N. Main St.; 860/927-1272) is a winsome boutique run by
Bartley Inge Johnstone, an effervescent interior designer who handpicks her collections of clothing and new and vintage housewares.
Where to Eat
Kent’s rather limited dining scene got a boost three years ago when Christine Holland opened Restaurant Moosilauke (23 Maple St.; 860/927-4145;
dinner for two $96) in a rustic 18th-century house, a romantic setting for market-driven dishes such as mulled cider-glazed Berkshire pork chops.
For a quick pick-me-up, discriminating chocoholics will want to make a pilgrimage to Belgique (Rte. 7 at Rte. 341; 860/927-3681), a
European-style patisserie proffering handmade truffles and brioches in a mustard yellow Victorian carriage house.
Don’t Miss
Eric Sloane (1905-85) was a local artist, author, and illustrator whose extensive collection of Early American, pre-Industrial Era tools was the nucleus for
the eccentric Sloane-Stanley Museum (Rte. 7; 860/927-3849; www.chc.state.ct.us/sloanestanleymuseum.htm; open May through October). The wall-mounted displays of axes, saws, baskets, and other farm
implements recall Julia Child’s iconic peg-board of pots and pans. A dog treadmill, which harnessed canine power to churn butter, is a reminder of the
ingenuity of American farmers before electricity. A full re-creation of Sloane’s studio—with its massive fireplace, jars of paintbrushes, and crowded
bookshelves—rounds out the picture of the New England renaissance man.
Overnight Option
Staying at the six-room Inn at Kent Falls (107 Kent Cornwall Rd.; 860/927-3197; www.theinnatkentfalls.com; doubles from $195) is like visiting your stylish "country" friends who are partial to Frette sheets and cushy,
snow-white-slipcovered furniture. Owner Ira Goldspiel, a former New York fashion executive, greet guests each morning with a breakfast of housemade
granola and double-baked brioche French toast. The floors in this meticulously renovated 18th-century farmhouse creak just enough for atmosphere,
but everything else is up-to-date (rooms have Internet access and CD players). If it’s available, book the Lakes Suite, which has a claw-foot bathtub
set in front of a candlelit fireplace. —Dan Shaw
Condé
Nast Traveler | New England Inns: Places
& Prices
"In
the covered bridge country of Litchfield Hills, The Inn at
Kent Falls reopened last year after a half a million dollars
in renovations. The two-story 1741 house is two miles north of Kent
on Route 7, at was once a center for tanneries and the production
of cider and grist. The four guest rooms and two suites mix antiques
(two of the rooms have porcelain soaking tubs) with modern amenities
such as cable TV and Internet access. There's also a pool."
Connecticut
Magazine | Getaways: KENT
INN
FOR ALL SEASONS
Billing itself as "an inn for all seasons"—and just
in time for the leaf-peepers of fall—a new B&B has opened
in Kent. A handsome Colonial on Route 7 halfway between town and Kent
Falls State Park, the Inn at Kent Falls has four rooms and two suites,
a dining room, living room, screened porch, den and—attention,
fireplace aficionados—five fireplaces. Among the six distinctive
rooms are the Lakes Room (with a four-poster king bed, an oversized
bath with a six-foot claw-foot tub, and fireplaces in both) and the
Falls Suite (a romantic king-bedded room with an adjoining library,
and a bath with clawfoot tub and "rainfall shower"). Extras
include a lovely backyard pool, cable TV and Internet access, and
fresh breakfast pastries provided daily by Strobel's in Kent.
According
to proprietor Ira Goldspiel, the 1741 house, which is listed on the
National Register and located in the historic Flanders section of
town, was most recently a private home but had at one time been an
inn known as Flanders Arms. A former weekender who had long admired
the place, the 41-year-old now Kent resident says that "the timing
just worked out" for him—"I had a background in product
development and merchandising, I was ready to do something new and
the property was available." Noting that the house "had
great bones and just needed updating," he says that his vision
has been to create a luxury B&B with "lots of spaces where
guests can relax and feel at home." CONNECTICUT
MAGAZINE.COM
Editors'
Choice 2006 | Yankee Magazine
The recipe for a posh Litchfield Hills country retreat mixes one part
historic charm with an equal amount of understated style. Former Manhattan
fashion designer Ira Goldspiel has crafted just that in this tastefully
decorated bed-and-breakfast favored by urbanites seeking an idyllic
respite. The 18th-century Colonial boasts eclectic furnishings that
blend easily with original period details such as hand-hewn beams
and wide-board floors, common areas that are comfy and quietly chic,
and six guest rooms and suites. Each room has a spa-worthy private
bath and dreamy linens. You also can indulge in one of the luxe extras,
including a massage in the pool house or a candlelit dinner. Its bill
as “an inn for all seasons” alludes to the area’s
year-round pleasures, from gentle cycling routes and back-road leaf
peeping to the namesake falls just down the road. Rates: $195-$325,
including full breakfast. YANKEE
MAGAZINE.COM
