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Chestertown Majestic. How better to describe this red-brick Georgian manor house grandly situated on twelve acres overlooking the Chesapeake Bay? Written descriptions, even photos, fail to convey fully the understated elegance and the alluring appeal of this winning B&B. The 25-room mansion, built in 1938 by an heir to the W.R. Grace shipping fortune, has regal public rooms, twelve guest rooms and plenty of space left over at one end for new owners Cassandra and John Fedas from Annapolis. Guests enter a great hall worthy of the name, with a graceful spiral staircase on one side. Intricate carvings over the doorways announce each room's use (a rising sun over the entrance, a crab over the dining rooms). On the left are a formal living room called the Music Room, a rich-looking library with shelves of books, hunting prints and a huge oriental rug, and a side porch full of wicker and wisteria stenciling. On the right are the dining room and a dark and cozy TV room with ship's models reflecting the owners' sailing interests. Bedrooms vary in size and decor, but all are plush in an understated way. Each comes with full tiled bath, kingsize bed with feather topper, and a sitting area with comfortable chairs, TV and telephone. Five have working fireplaces and seven yield bay views. An artist hand-painted whimsical touches here and there: a squirrel on a desk in one room, an extra window on the wall of another. Even the third-floor rooms convey an unusual sense of space with their high vaulted ceilings. The Fedases added a lovely conservatory with a small pool in 2004; it serves as a site for conferences and weddings. In back are a pleasant terrace and the vast lawn leading to a bluff above the bay, where benches, a screened gazebo and a deck with rocking chairs await. The vista takes in Poole’s Island across the main bay channel and at night, you can see the lighted sky above Baltimore 25 miles away. From bluff’s edge, a path and a service road descend to a sand beach, where swimmers find no evidence of the sea nettles that discourage bay swimming farther south. Guests also have access to golf, tennis and a swimming pool at the Great Oak yacht club next door. A full breakfast is served at individual tables amid much silver and china in the dining room. The buffet holds fresh fruit, many cereals and granola, delectable muffins and, at our latest visit, eggs strata. We took ours on trays to the back terrace and felt like we were in paradise.
For more information: www.greatoak.com
Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth, copyright 2003, and from Waterside Escapes in the Northeast, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth, copyright 2005. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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