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Inn at Vaucluse Spring- Stephens City, VA
The Inn at Vaucluse Spring is more of a compound than a hotel, consisting of 7 buildings scattered across an idyllic piece of land, with a crystal clear spring and mountain views. Rest assured, it's a Kennedy's on the Cape compound situation, rather than the Waco variety.
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Mount Bleak House- Delaplane, VA
Delaplane, Virginia is a largely rural, agricultural area, known today for its many wineries. While not all of them actually produce good wine, they all are impossibly scenic. Most feature vast views of sweeping panoramas, including distant mountains and impossibly quaint stone houses. One such house is Mount Bleak, an 1843 five bay Federal Style farmhouse with a quirky Dutch door, named for its hilltop location.
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Paradise Springs Winery- Clifton, VA
Clifton, Virginia is an impossibly quaint blip of a town, consisting of a handful of historic buildings. In the early years, the area was known for its mineral springs and railroad depot. Over a century later, it became known for Trummers, a fantastic destination restaurant with a huge wine cellar. Since 2010, it has also been known for Paradise Springs, the first winery in Fairfax County.
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Highfield Hall & Gardens- Falmouth, MA
Constructed in 1878, Highfield Hall was one of the earliest grand Gilded Age estates in New England. Like many other mansions of its time, it was nearly lost to progress in the 1970s (and again in the 90s). Fortunately, before that happened, a philanthropic donation save this architecturally stunning piece of the past, preserving one of the last examples of Stick Style Queen Anne architecture in the Northeast.
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Old Library Restaurant- Olean, NY
I get very excited about Carnegie Libraries. While I love to find them functioning in their original capacity, that is exceedingly rare. Admittedly, library needs are wildly different today than when the Carnegie's were built. However, considering the craftsmanship present in these buildings, they are ripe for reuse, such as in the case of Olean, New York's branch.
