Saturday, September 7, 2019

Rosewood Event Season kicks into high gear

Rosewood Country Inn: Come be part of our continuing story.  Back when our Inn was the Pleasant View Farm our lovely building used to be at the end of the line - literally.  It was the end of the train line, as far from New York or Boston as you could come.  Back in those days, think the 19-teens - most of the films were not shot in Hollywood - they were shot here on the East Coast.  Famous movie stars of the silent era stayed at our Inn (per our old ledgers) as a way to escape the quick paced life of shooting 20 and more films a year.  Famous names being:  Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, The Gish sisters etc are all shown staying at our lovely Inn back in the day.  We've heard from long time residents that Chaplin even played golf on the 9 hole course that used to be part of Pleasant View Farms property.  Sadly we no longer have that golf course.



What we do have, and what we are doing more of every year is we love to host themed parties, and murder mystery weekends where you our guest get to play all sorts of "characters" in themed activities.  We don't hire actors, as much fun as that can be, we find our guest really enjoy getting to play the various parts themselves, and immerse themselves in the various roles as much as they choose to do - some just want to watch and be a fly on the wall, but others want to do it all, be the murderer, the prime suspect or the daring detective!  It's all in fun, and you can truly let your hair down and get into your role however, or as little as you so choose (warning, even those that at first say they don't want to do much tend to really get into it and have a blast!!).



This fall we will be hosting our Wizarding School and Granite Horror ( Granite is a little Rocky...Rocky Horror right).  Then in the winter of 2020 we will be hosting a Middle Ages, Another Wizarding School, a Steampunk, 1950's High School reunion and a 1940's Debutante's birthday.



We also have our yearly story telling with Story teller impresario Rebecca Rule the first Saturday in December.



We are always open to hosting more events as well - for private parties, company gatherings or family get togethers.  Planning a smaller wedding (less than 100 guests) consider having the wedding here, and we could have your rehearsal dinner evening as a murder mystery...what an amazing icebreaker for families being joined together by marriage!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Mt Sunapee ski resort becomes part of Vail Resorts

The Rosewood Country Inn is happy to see that the tradition of Mt Sunapee being a leader in providing great skiing will continue under new ownership.  Vail Resorts has purchased both Okemo and Mt Sunapee resorts and committed to providing up to 35 million dollars in improvements to the two properties in the coming couple of years to make both mountains even better for skiers - and will be including them in their "Epic Pass" programs.

Check out their program options at the URL below, and don't forget we are just 15 minutes from the mountain here in beautiful Bradford, NH. 

https://www.epicpass.com/pass-results/passes.aspx 

Monday, July 2, 2018

New Hampshire's crafty neighbors

The League of New Hampshire's Craftsman fair is approaching again.  Time to get ready to view the amazing offerings, demonstrations and partake in the fun!

Our son has enjoyed the hands-on kids area, learning to work with "old fashioned" wood working tools, and create things the way pioneers and settlers in New England and all across our great country have for many generations.  Additionally, the adults and kids get to see demonstrations of Blacksmithing, clay working, jewelry making etc.

As an Inn located just 15 minutes from the base of the mountain the Rosewood Country Inn loves crafting, so much so that we have our own schedule of events which change monthly.  Small groups gather each month to try their hands at different crafts in our dining room or outside during nice weather on our fantastic grounds, past projects have included:  basket weaving, Tree of Life pendant making, wine glass painting, fairy lantern making, and snowman jars.  Each participant gets to make their own item to take home, while laughter, a little wine and fun abound!         

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Crafting, Murder Mystery, Comedy, Baby Showers and Weddings Oh My!!

Lots of fun here in our neck of the woods.  It's a crazy hot July 1st here in the mountains of New Hampshire but we are still having fun at the Rosewood Country Inn.

Last night we had guests attending a wedding at Mt Sunapee and other guests going on the dinner cruise around Lake Sunapee.  At the same time we were watching the fantastic fireworks display our town puts on here in Bradford - lots of fun things to do around here.   

Today we have a baby shower going in our lovely dining room, helping Samantha and her family celebrate her coming little bundle of joy!  Just last month we held our own weddings here doing our part to make sure Dan and Emily as well as Jon and Shelby special days went off "without a hitch", so to speak!

Be it intimate crafting events for a dozen or so, up to weddings for 90 our Inn is doing it's part to ensure lots of different folks have lots of laughs, fun and special memories.

Maybe tonight we will head over to Sanctuary Dairy Farm for ice cream!   

Monday, June 11, 2018

Historic Inn begins to learn new tricks

My wife and I bought our Inn in Bradford, New Hampshire two and a half years ago.  We bought the old Inn with an eye to change it for the better - to retain it's charm, and sense of history, but also to improve it, modernize and improve her structure so that this old Inn would continue to be able to tell it's story for another 100 years.   

Our Inn had gone through many changes since it began it's journey as The Pleasant View Farm in the 1890's as a summer escape for people coming up from Boston or New York by train.  In those days, the train line ended at the Bradford train depot and you were brought to the Inn on a wagon, or by horse and buggy.

In the time we've been here we have been working to upgrade and strengthen the old bones of our lovely old Victorian.  Where she had little or no insulation (basements/crawl spaces and walls) we've been insulating.  Where she was so reliant on outside power, we've added 54 solar panels, we aren't all the way to the point were we can power the entire place year round (due to fewer sun light hours in winter) but for our summer months where the Inn's power usage was highest, we are now collecting enough energy to totally supply our needs.  Just this month, we've upgraded our power systems, giving us greater flexibility and allowing us to covert all of our public rooms (dining room, bar, sitting rooms and parlor space from inefficient "window shaker" ac units to mini-split systems which will maintain a better temperature for our guests while running much more efficiently.  Bonus points because these units also allow us to heat these same spaces in winter, and should help us lower our use oil in the winter, and can even be run in just a dehumidifying form which may replace the need for cooling on those muggy days of midsummer in New England. 



By upgrading our power supply systems we also gained the extra "juice" to allow us to install charging stations for our guests electric vehicles.  We now have two Tesla charging stations and a universal charging station which should fit most other automobile manufacturers electric connections.












We still have lots more to do, with a huge old Inn with 17,000 square feet of space and 12 glorious acres of land in the woods of New Hampshire's mountains we will never run short of projects!  But we taken some enormous steps towards breathing new life, and creating new opportunities for not only the lovely old Rosewood Country Inn, but also for our entire town to begin to experience different - far more than the ordinary - life in Bradford, New Hampshire - Gateway to the Sunapee/Dartmouth area of the New Hampshire woods.

I assure you, there is more to come!  Join us for a wedding, a murder mystery, story telling, or comedy all in the comfort of our updated spaces which still feel the comfort of a Victorian home!         

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Transitions in the New Hampshire Woods

It's that time of year again everyone.  The Christmas trees are up around the Inn and favorite Christmas music, from old ballads to Grandma got run over are playing in rotation on the radio.  If you look closely like our son does, you occasionally even catch a glimpse of our house elf wandering through a room, hall way or hiding amoung the limbs of a tree.
  
Rosewood Country Inn Dining Room dressed for Christmas


Odo, Karl, Sniffles and I have all been here for two years this month, and it's a magical time.  The proximity to Mt Sunapee or Pat's Peak for a few quick turns after our daily chores pulls at us every time we get a free afternoon. 

Winter scene of our gazebo
Our family came here from Texas where it was a two to 6 hour flight to get up to anyplace for skiing, but now we are just 15 minutes drive from wonderful opportunities at Sunapee and 20 minutes from Pat's Peak, who couldn't like that?  Now if you don't like to ski, and instead prefer a walk in the woods with your favorite person to snuggle with, we have snowmobiling trails that run along side the stone walls that mark our property.  Sniffles and I walk them regularly, this time of year, I do wear a boatload of orange because deer season is on, so it's always best to be careful, but you can't keep us out of the woods, here or on numerous other area hikes, from Mt Kearsarge to Lake Solitude to just the paths and walks on The Fells historic property at Lake Sunapee.



We've been busy between the end of the fall colours and snow flying, improving the Inn as well.  The Inn had a few rooms with a sprinkler when we took over, but to ensure our guests safety it now has fire suppression sprinklers throughout.  That was a big change but one that we've tried hard to fold as unobtrusively as possible into the character of the old Victorian.  We want to ensure this wonderful building filled with the echo of laughter of Charlie Chaplin, Jack London, The Gish sisters, Mary Pickford and so many more from back in the Pleasant View Inn and Farm days (think 1890's -1980's)  stands for many, many more owners long after us!

We have even more plans in store for our lovely, reborn Inn.  We've been holding more and more events during our time here, from weddings, baby showers, family reunions, murder mysteries, comedy nights, story tellers, karaoke nights and more. 
Our very own Major Award!


Come join us at the Rosewood and see our evolution, from the beautiful bedrooms and suites with fantastic breakfasts which we had begin with, to our future of the Inn and a true center of different events for our guests and the community. 

The ride may be a little bit over hill, and over dale, or over the river and through the woods but we are far more than grandmothers house       

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Winter is around the corner in the New Hampshire woods

Mother Nature has been rather coy so far this year in New Hampshire.  She got cool in August, cool enough we at the Rosewood Country Inn were wondering if we'd see snow in September!  But then, suddenly we were in what was always called "Indian Summer" back when I was growing up.  We had the air conditioners going and the change over from summer to fall dragged out a bit longer into October as a result.  We loved it, but figuring out the right time to pick our favorite apples at the area PYO apple orchards was a challenge!

But now, all of a sudden we are expecting low and below teens this weekend and we saw our first faint glimpse of snow flurries this afternoon.  So perhaps our efforts to tighten up the Inn this spring, summer and fall will start to bear fruit.  Dan, our handyman and I have been painting, caulking, adding insulation and replacing siding about the old Victorian all year it seems.  When you own an older place, especially one as large as our wonderful Inn is you get used to never ending discoveries.  So are quasi expected, some make you smile, a couple make you scratch your head and few make you just go "what in the world were they thinking?"!  But it's fun in its own way, always a challenge to figure out how to both stay true to the original structure, but at the same time improve it to make sure the grand old lady is here for another 166 years.

Hopefully all of our improvements that we've undertaken will help to make our Winter's tale with Rebecca Rule a little warmer in the dining room.  Our skiers still want to snuggle just enough in front of their fires - but more cause they want to, and keep our murder mysteries, comedy nights and all the other fun and somewhat crazy ideas my wife and our team come up with little more comfortable as the snow begins to fly up in our little piece of New England near Mt Sunapee!