My dream is that people will come to enjoy the history of the house and the surrounding area and join in the creative activities. I hope they find another avenue for meaning in their lives. And they do, she insists. Renovations have totaled a million dollars, says the Italian innkeeper. With seven bedrooms and Ms. Trovato's gracious manner, the bed and breakfast business is thriving.
Guests enter through a huge door in a stone turret decorated with griffins.
The antique door, imported from a French castle, lacks an outside doorknob or lock. Massive iron hinges and a metal bar keep the door secure until opened from inside. A 15th-century Venetian fountain stares from the remnants of an arbor. A Civil War graveyard, tennis court, swimming pool and fishpond offer guests other diversions. An extensive variety of classes in painting, drawing, sculpture, music, dance, language and enlightenment are filling quickly.