Sheppard Mansion, Hanover | Sayre Mansion, Bethlehem | Inn at Montchanin Village, Wilmington
Shoe-Inn
Hanover’s Sheppard Mansion is the type of property luxurious brands like the Orient Express try to replicate. An appreciation for antiques, period furniture and opulent architecture is unmatched and unlike any other—it’s personal, it’s intimate and it’s entirely endearing.
Upon arrival, guests are graciously greeted by general manager Timothy Bobb and the mansion’s mascot, “Punch” the French bulldog. Once inside, guests gather stories of the home’s original occupants, Harper and Henrietta Sheppard, and the warmth and welcoming personality that make this Select Registry bed and breakfast so special emerge around every corner.
The mansion’s first lady, Henrietta, was a civic-minded member of the Daughters of the Revolution as well as an active genealogist. Her husband, Harper, was a traveling shoe salesman who in 1899 took over the Hanover Shoe Factory with C.N. Myers.
“The houses that shoes built,” known locally as the “twin mansions,” were designed by architect Herman Miller for Myers and Sheppard. The Sheppard Mansion was established in 1913 and quickly became more than just a home for the family and their two sons. The Sheppards were known to entertain visiting celebrities, perhaps alluding to what would be the future of their elegant abode. In 1999 the Sheppards’ descendents restored the mansion, giving it a second life as a bed and breakfast.
Family portraits top antique bureaus in the guest rooms while Mrs. Sheppard’s personal collection of purses is displayed at the top of the grand stairwell in the third floor’s hallway. The unique lamps in every room are a quirky part of the eclectic tapestry of décor. An exquisite marble fowl floor lamp stands stately in the men’s parlor (which is now one of the dining areas for the restaurant), while a smaller Athena marble lamp illuminates a sideboard in the elegantly appointed ladies parlor, also a dining room.
The Sheppard Mansion’s executive chef, Andrew Little, is quiet and unassuming, much like his cuisine, which is available to overnight guests and fine dining foodies who simply come for a culinary adventure.
Unpretentious local ingredients come together in blissful gourmet comfort foods that are simply elegant. Chef Little, a Hanover native, returned a year and a half ago from his ventures in New York to bring his expertise to this charming small town. Unpretentious local ingredients come together in blissful gourmet comfort foods that are simply elegant. Chef Little, a Hanover native, returned a year and a half ago from his ventures in New York to bring his expertise to this charming small town.
Favorites like his lobster macaroni and cheese made with a 10-year-aged Vermont cheddar exemplify his style. The sharp and creamy saltiness of the cheddar is the perfect balance for the rich buttery poached chunks of lobster. “A lot of things you’ll see on the menu are simple—just refined,” explains Little. “The style of food is really something that people are looking for,” adds Bobb.
Some of the items found on the menu, which can change daily depending on what’s available locally, include updated German classics like Schnitz und Knepp served as a fricassee of potato gnocchi with country ham, caramelized (as opposed to dried) apples and cremini mushrooms. “I have really good relationships with [area] farmers,” says Little; believe it or not, “A lot of them email and text me to let me know what they have available each day.”
Little takes advantage of his local resources, turning them into tantalizing treasures like housemade pumpkin tortellini with braised Amish rabbit, sage and brown butter, or try crispy quail hot wings which are rich in intensity—a curiously clever catalyst for the football food favorite. Another one of Little’s creations we could easily sit down and nosh on all night is his version of chips and dip—an amuse of heirloom finglerling potato chips with a truffle oil crème fraiche. They’re pungent, salty, creamy and crisp—what more could one want? Besides more of the homemade pretzel rolls, of course.
Our second amuse of the evening, one of many more that followed, was an earthy espresso of morel mushrooms, a comforting sip of nature’s richness. In between, there was an autumn salad of persimmon, pears, grapes and pecans with a walnut vinaigrette as well as a dish of roasted winter squash with country ham and herb salad with a salted nut vinaigrette. A roasted lump crab cake was served with a crisp and tangy salad of apples, celeriac, mushrooms and shaved radish, surrounded by a mustard vinaigrette.
Entrées such as roasted fall root vegetable lasagna with honey-glazed chestnuts and sage sauce, as well as gingerbread-crusted sea bass which somehow makes seafood smell like the holidays,
are fresh and inventive yet classic and comforting. are fresh and inventive yet classic and comforting.
Cinnamon-dusted Maple Leaf Farms duck breast served with pecan risotto and Brussels sprouts encircled by a deep burgundy cherry gastrique made from a reduced Baniel’s (sherry) vinegar was perfectly prepared. Every bite, bliss. The spice and tang of the cinnamon and vinegar paralleled the slightly sweet risotto, the duck’s tender consistency of a filet mignon melting into a bit of bite on each grain of risotto and the occasional crunch of pecan.
A sublime finish to a fulfilling meal, an amuse of pumpkin lavender pot de crème arrived before our ordered lilliputian fig tart with homemade brown sugar ice cream. With the check came an assorted plate of mini sticky buns, snickerdoodles and brownie bites.
And sweet dreams are a sure thing in the plush king bed of the Ayres Suite—fit for a king (or queen, seeing that the room gets its name from Mrs. Sheppard’s maiden name of English baroness descent). Wrapped in cozy robes, which are available for purchase (they’re that popular!), guests can enjoy the Ayres room which is set up for a relaxing afternoon of reading by the fireplace—after a long bath in the deep claw foot tub framed by three windows looking out onto the lovely grounds and herb gardens.
In the mornings, enjoy breakfast served in the most elegant nook you may ever eat in. Inlaid marble floors butt up to six inches of matching marble trim, while a crystal chandelier hangs above from one of the most ornate ceilings in the mansion. Bobb, who ran his own catering business for 12 years before taking up residence as the innkeeper of the Sheppard Mansion, serves up lovely ways to start the day such as perfectly plump poached eggs Benedict with cheddar-topped grits and fresh fruit or an herbed quiche with sausage and finglerling homefries. And if you’re lucky, Punch the persnickety pooch will come out to wish you a good morning. In the mornings, enjoy breakfast served in the most elegant nook you may ever eat in. Inlaid marble floors butt up to six inches of matching marble trim, while a crystal chandelier hangs above from one of the most ornate ceilings in the mansion. Bobb, who ran his own catering business for 12 years before taking up residence as the innkeeper of the Sheppard Mansion, serves up lovely ways to start the day such as perfectly plump poached eggs Benedict with cheddar-topped grits and fresh fruit or an herbed quiche with sausage and finglerling homefries. And if you’re lucky, Punch the persnickety pooch will come out to wish you a good morning.
Hanover Highlights
If you feel like leaving the grounds of the Sheppard Mansion (though we wouldn’t blame you if you stayed in that luxurious bed all day), Hanover offers a nostalgic blast from the past while the signs of rebirth blossom. Fine gift shops such as Treasures on Broadway Street sit just down the sidewalk from Bakers Dress Shop, where you can find a special occasion outfit for a show at the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center (www.theeich.org).
Pick up a little decorative touch to take home, pick out a fabric and design a custom piece of furniture, or plan an entire renovation for when you get back at Style Makers on Carlisle Street. Owner and designer Melissa Harris utilizes years-in-the-business experience and world travels to bring exciting and exotic home accessories and design services at affordable prices.
To experience a true local staple (and get on your sweetheart’s good side before a day of shopping), be sure to take him for a lager and a “famous weiner” at none other than Famous Weiner Lunch on the corner of Broadway and York St. For a lighter lunch, there’s The Reader’s Café down the street offering soups, salads and sandwiches and wall-to-wall shelves of books. Another unique café to visit on your stay is just around the corner from the mansion and an easy walk, Merlin’s Café. The coffee varieties are named after each of their eight cats (don’t worry, they’re not all living in the café, just all kinds of cute kitty tchotchkes). There’s also the Hanover Market, where you can pick up homemade baked goods, Pretzel Lady soft pretzel sandwiches and snacks, fruits, veggies and more.
Other nearby attractions include the York Wine Trail and the Utz outlet and “Chip Trip” (information at www.yorkpa.org). Plenty of factory tours abound in and around the snack capital of the country, from Martin’s and Revonah Preztels to Snyder’s of Hanover and Wolfgang Candy. Also a fun day out, antiquing in Gettysburg, New Oxford and at the Thomasville flea markets may just turn up the unique treasure you never knew you needed.
The Sheppard Mansion: 117 Frederick St., Hanover, PA • www.sheppardmansion.com 717-633-8075 • Dining Hours: Wed-Sat 5:30-9pm
— Keely Childers
Christmas City Getaway
As the mercury plummets, the forecast at Bethlehem’s Sayre Mansion Inn remains warm and welcoming. In fact, the post-Yuletide months are an ideal time for a Christmas City getaway. Holiday crowds have dissipated, making it easier to enjoy the abundance of nearby shops, restaurants and historic sites, and the cozy comforts offered by this gracious B&B—from featherbeds to fireplaces—could transform winter into your favorite season. As the mercury plummets, the forecast at Bethlehem’s Sayre Mansion Inn remains warm and welcoming. In fact, the post-Yuletide months are an ideal time for a Christmas City getaway. Holiday crowds have dissipated, making it easier to enjoy the abundance of nearby shops, restaurants and historic sites, and the cozy comforts offered by this gracious B&B—from featherbeds to fireplaces—could transform winter into your favorite season.
The sprawling Gothic Revival mansion, completed in 1858 by Lehigh Valley Railroad’s chief engineer Robert Heysham Sayre, is situated prominently in the Fountain Hill Historic District of Bethlehem. A park-like two-acre setting graced by towering, century-old trees enables this urban guest house to maintain an air of seclusion and tranquility—while providing easy access to the plentiful diversions that lie on both sides of the Lehigh River.
Meticulous restoration of the property has resulted in Victorian elegance that’s complemented by contemporary amenities. Each of the 18 rooms in the main house has a private bath, wireless internet access and a flat-screen TV. Most feature a fireplace, and DVD players are available upon request. All rooms are individually decorated with vintage and period reproduction furnishings, and a soft palate of earthy hues creates a soothing environment. The Sayre Mansion Inn welcomes children of all ages.
The most distinctive—and requested—room is the glass-roofed Conservatory, an extraordinary tree-top retreat with breathtaking views. (Just be prepared for a flood of light in the morning.) For sheer architectural grandeur, book the Robert Sayre Library: The two-room suite boasts a marble fireplace, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and an original vaulted ceiling and chandelier.
Three gorgeous suites in the recently renovated carriage house pair historic character with such upgraded amenities as whirlpool tubs, mini-fridges and iPod docks.
Made-to-order breakfasts, served hearthside in the stately dining room, include premise-made baked goods, fresh fruit and such tasty choices as granola pancakes, six-cheese-and-herb omelets and hand-blended “rustic grains” oatmeal. Cookie jars stocked with fresh-baked treats add a friendly touch, and guests are invited to enjoy a complimentary glass of wine or beer in the grandly appointed parlor in the evening.
When you’re ready to venture out, Bethlehem offers two downtowns with distinct personalities. On the rejuvenated Southside, just down the hill from the inn, a fun and funky vibe prevails. One-of-a-kind shops with unusual wares include Home & Planet, Cleo’s and Comfort & Joy. When you’re ready to venture out, Bethlehem offers two downtowns with distinct personalities. On the rejuvenated Southside, just down the hill from the inn, a fun and funky vibe prevails. One-of-a-kind shops with unusual wares include Home & Planet, Cleo’s and Comfort & Joy.
Cross the bridge to become immersed in the colonial beauty of this early Moravian community. Picturesque streets are lined with historic buildings, and fine retailers such as Donegal Square, In the Mood and Accessories, etc. offer everything from fashions to home furnishings. Be sure to visit The Moravian Book Shop, the oldest continuously operated bookstore in the nation. Along with satisfying literary needs, this expansive store offers unusual house and garden wares, gourmet foods and chocolates, and a WiFi café.
Dining choices are deliciously extensive. For a casual, authentic Italian meal, try The Vineyard, only a few blocks away from the inn. Stylish, upscale options along “Restaurant Row” include Starfish Brasserie, Apollo Grill and Edge; Bethlehem Brew Works creates signature and seasonal beers and serves a tasty beer-based menu in a relaxed atmosphere. The new restaurant at the historic Hotel Bethlehem, 1741 on the Terrace, delivers seasonal contemporary American cuisine in a magnificent glass-walled room appointed with vintage Mercer tiles and paintings by local
artists. Incomparable views of the city—including Bethlehem’s famous hill-top star—provide a feast for the eyes. artists. Incomparable views of the city—including Bethlehem’s famous hill-top star—provide a feast for the eyes.
Lehigh Valley for Culture Vultures
Culture comes in an endless and ever-evolving array of flavors and venues throughout the Lehigh Valley to satisfy tastes ranging from classic to contemporary. In Bethlehem, Zoellner Arts Center (610-758-2787; www.zoellnerartscenter.org) presents widely varied music, dance and theatrical performances and features changing exhibits at the Lehigh University Art Galleries; Godfrey Daniels (www.godfreydaniels.org), an intimate live music venue, offers folk, blues and more from local and national artists. Art aficionados will find a huge number of prestigious galleries to explore, including Monsoon Gallery (www.monsoongalleries.com), Wired Gallery and Café (www.wired-gallery.com), Ambré Studio (www.ambrestudio.com), PopMart (www.shop-popmart.com) and eDavid Gallery (www.edavidgallery.com). At the Banana Factory (www.bananafactory.org), a lively community arts center, First Friday celebrations spill across the Southside neighborhood as merchants stay open late and provide refreshments and entertainment.
In Easton, catch a show at the magnificently restored State Theatre Center for the Arts (www.statetheatre.org) or check out art exhibitions, concerts and theatrical productions at Lafayette College’s Williams Center for the Arts (www.lafayette.edu/~artscntr/Williams). On Saturday evenings, Connexions Gallery (610-250-7627) frequently offers live music, running the gamut from improv jazz to surf-rockabilly.
Allentown destinations include the Allentown Art Museum (www.allentownartmuseum.org), with outstanding permanent collections and special exhibitions, and The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum (610-435-1074; www.lchs.museum). A comprehensive guide to cultural happenings throughout the area can be found on the Lehigh Valley Arts Council’s calendar of events at www.lvartscouncil.org.
The Sayre Mansion Inn 250 Wyandotte Street • Bethlehem, PA 877-345-9019; • www.sayremansion.com
— Lenora Dannelke
DuPont Country
Imagine entering a world of perfect harmony. A world where profusions of wild-flowers and zebra-striped cushions seem perfectly placed, where the blare of a train whistle resounds with romance and modern luxuries nestle among historic details.
This is DuPont country, in the heart of the Brandy-wine Valley. This is the Inn at Montchanin Village.
Montchanin truly is a village and an inn, a cluster of nine historic homes transformed into twenty-eight luxury suites. The homes once housed workers from the DuPont gunpowder mill, founded in 1802 and start of the DuPont chemical fortune. In 1889, the hamlet got a permanent railroad station for gunpowder transport, and it got a name honoring the DuPont Company founder’s grandmother, Anne Alexandrine de Montchanin.
Missy Lickle, the great-great-great granddaughter of the mill’s founder, inherited the village in the 1990s. It was already on the National Register of Historic Places, and she and her husband Dan spent five years creating a blissful retreat that also preserves the site’s heritage. The site is listed
in Historic Hotels of America and the Select Registry Distinguished Inns of North America. The Mobil Travel Guide gives it four stars.
Inside the villiage, the stresses of the present melt away.
Today, roads that fill with rush-hour traffic divide the hamlet, and the daily train lumbers past every afternoon. Somehow, they add to the charm of this self-contained world, recalling its industrial past. Inside the village, among the cluster of stucco homes
and cascading wildflowers cultivated by the staff horticulturist, the stresses of the present melt away.
General Manager Jacques Amblard oversees the Inn at Montchanin Village with meticulous detail. Each room is unique, but none skimp on luxuries. In fact, Montchanin
earned Travel + Leisure’s 2006 distinction as the world’s best hotel for $250 or less. Every suite features a cozy conversation area and mini-kitchen.
Some have writing desks and stone walls. All have fireplaces and imported linens. Baths are visions in marble, and more than one guest has probably dropped a Christmas-present hint after wrapping up in a crazy-luxurious Montchanin bathrobe after a Jacuzzi soak. A new spa features private treatment rooms with showers, water walls, and fireplaces.
When all that indulgence and solitude gets tiresome, guests can stroll to the stone barn, converted to guest registration and social room, for
a game of backgammon and a drink at the honor bar. Above the fireplace, an elegant portrait of Margaretta Lammot DuPont Carpenter, the owner’s grandmother, entices guests to join the privileged world of the DuPonts.
At Krazy Kat’s, Montchanin’s restaurant, hipster décor of jungle prints and cartoon portraits of cats as royal family (“Chat Lunatique” hangs inside the door) enliven the restored blacksmith’s shop. The chef’s foie gras, accompanied by the server’s suggested ice wine, melts in the mouth. Entrées of perfectly prepared salmon or scallops make diners feel like royalty.
Outside of Krazy Kat’s, the statue of a tall, regal cat—a vintage piece from a 1920s English department store—guards the door as if it found its ideal spot. Clearly, everything at Montchanin and in the surrounding area comprises the perfect placement of texture, color and harmony.
Just up the road, the Winterthur Museum is the family estate that Henry Francis DuPont transformed into a museum of decorative arts. He designed his naturalistic gardens to move with nature’s rhythms and the Brandywine Valley’s rolling countryside. The man who would move an azalea five or six inches for just the right placement would also choose the exact flowers and china—from his collection of 50 patterns—for serving weekend guests.
That DuPont sensibility of carefully calibrated elegance revealed in small glimpses infuses the region. Near Montchanin and Winterthur, the serene town of Centreville
attracts with charm and, yes, more harmony. Many of its buildings, including those that house antique stores and the funky gift shop Wild Thyme, are on the National Register. Buckley’s Tavern, a local institution, is the place to have a classic but imaginative meal of American cuisine and to meet anyone from a corporate CEO to a truck driver.
WHIMSICAL TOUCHES
“Privy Lane”? At an upscale inn? At the Inn at Montchanin Village, elegance rubs shoulders with whimsy. Signs sprinkled around the gardens advise, “A person who aims at nothing has a target he can’t miss,” or “It takes a long time to grow an old friend.” Privy Lane is the stone alley connecting the guest suites—once the homes of mill workers—to the spa at one end and Krazy Kat’s at the other. Wrought iron benches invite strollers to stop and admire a patch of purple zinnias or a tall pine. Vines climb over walls that separate the cottages. At night, lantern light dots the path. And at the entrance to each suite, outdoor privies still stand but are now doing duty as storage sheds.
The Inn at Montchanin Village Route 100 & Kirk Rd. • Montchanin, DE 19710
