And the Winner IS Going to Winvian
In early March, we introduced our first FarewellTravels contest. We are happy to report that we had an enormous response, but a clear winner emerged. Having referred the most new subscribers to FarewellTravels.com, Marti Mayne of Yarmouth, Maine has won a two-night visit to Winvian, which is located in the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut.
Congratulations to Marti and, to our other readers, keep checking back. We've got several contests in the works.
For those of you curious about Winvian, read on.
From the road, it looks like a New England farm  200 years ago. A collection of red and white buildings stands along with a saltbox house on 113 meadowed acres. Enter the grounds, however, and you find yourself in a world that's every inch New Millennium, full of fantasy and sophistication.
The accommodations are not merely places to stay, but mini-destinations in themselves. One cottage is tucked on the edge of the woods and simulates the camping experience (minus the roughing it aspect) with floor-to-roofline windows throughout and a tent canopy over the bed. The ceiling looks like clouds and blue skies by day and constellations at night. Turn-down service includes marshmallows which guests can toast over a fire on the screened porch. Another cottage has a full-sized 1968 fully restored Sikorsky helicopter dominating the interior and enabling guests to imagine they’ve coptered off to some remote place.
Winvian is a combination of the first names of Winthrop and Vivian Smith, who bought the property in 1948 and used it as a place to unwind from the pressures of New York City. It has remained in the family ever since and is now a wonderfully unconventional getaway.
Fifteen New England architects contributed to the distinctly different eighteen free-standing cottages here. Constr ucted of boulders and topped with an undulating slate roof, Stone Cottage offers an upscale Flintstone experience complete with leather curtains. The Treehouse, designed by John Connell, is right out of a ten-year-old boy's dreams, suspended between trees and 35 feet off the ground. Woodland Cottage, by Troy Osborne, brings the outdoors inside with living trees, a waterfall over a large stone slab and pedestal sinks made of tree trunks. All the cottages have at least one wood-burning fireplace, a screened porch and large whirlpool tubs with separate steam showers in the bathrooms.
Meals are major conversation pieces here, with Executive Chef Chris Eddy, who holds the Grand Diplome from the French Culinary Institute, at the helm. One can start with breakfast on the Terrace, enjoy light snacks in the Solarium, settle into tasting me nus along with carefully selected wines in the Private Dining Room. Everything is fresh and—in season—right out of the inn’s own gardens.
In addition to lounging around your cottage, there’s lots to see nearby. You can be chauffeured or drive yourself into Litchfield in one of the inn’s loaner Mercedez Benzes (the GL 450 or Sedan 550). There you can see the village's historic buildings (including the country's first law school) or hike or mountain bike on 35 miles of trails in adjoining White Memorial Foundation, a 4,000-acre preserve of woodlands, fields and rivers. Come winter, there's snowshoeing and skiing (no need to bring your own equipment).
And if you just want to stay put, the glass conservatory on-site spa is the ultimate place to relax.
--Susan Farewell
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