The couple and their two Yorkshire terriers occupy a small apartment in the former servant's quarters. We wanted a change. Ninety percent of small inns and bed and breakfasts are probably bought by people who have never worked in the business before. In addition to seven bedrooms in the main house, the old red brick ice house and the white carriage house have been converted into guest quarters. All rooms and suites are equipped with private bathrooms, whirlpool bathtubs and televisions.
Most guests come for weekend getaways from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Some stop on their way to destinations farther north in Vermont, while some are visiting Bennington College, holding business meetings or staging wedding receptions, Cullison says. Not everyone comes to spend the night. People often drive all the way from the Albany, N.Y., area just to have supper at the Four Chimneys. In its heyday, the eatery was a popular stopping place for tourists during foliage season, says Cullison. Through the years, everyone from Anne Bancroft to Richard Thomas has eaten there, he says.