I’ve been thinking that I should do something to recognize this important year and month for Jane Austen. But it’s been difficult to come up with an appropriate idea, something serious enough for our thoughts of a short life ( December 16, 1775 to July 18, 1817) not to mention the possibility of the more […]

After a tough Vermont winter and a serious bout of flu what form of R and R would be good before getting back to the 24/7 business of running a small inn? As is so often the case, a little Jane Austen seemed like a good plan. I’d been noticing how amazingly often JA is […]

The calendar may say it’s spring, but the ground around the inn here in Vermont is still covered with knee-high snow and sitting close to a warm fire is still very appealing. But yesterday as I walked along a street in the village I could hear the plink, plink, plink of maple sap beginning to […]

It’s been very busy this winter at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park with weddings, birthday parties, Downton Abbey inspired etiquette dinners, afternoon tea, a Jane Austen weekend, and celebrations of Valentine’s Day, not to mention the usual weekend getaways and cross-country skiing. But plans are now underway for next year’s schedule and a few […]

Although I may never get away to the festival in Bath in busy September, my annual post-October long-weekend in London this year was very Jane Austenish. I arrived in time for the opening of the new exhibit at the British Library, Georgians Revealed: Life, Style, and the Making of Modern Britain, on until March 11, […]

Two Jane Austen weekends in a row always leaves me trying to catch up with lots of things around the inn. But as I’m doing that catching up, I think of all the good memories and good pictures that went away with my guests and I don’t mind a bit. The weather was beautiful on […]

It’s August, the time when people around the village of Hyde Park start again mentioning to me that they have noticed ladies in long dresses wandering around the grounds of the Governor’s House, playing croquet or carefully holding their parasols to protect them from the sun. Period dress is always optional, but many guests enjoy […]

Something new will be happening at the Governor’s House in Hyde Park. The Vermont Apple Pie Literary and Travel Society will be holding dinner-discussions here starting in October.     Mary Ann Shaffer’s best-selling novel is the obvious inspiration for the Vermont Apple Pie Literary and Travel Society. The fictional Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie […]