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State College 347 West Pine Grove Road (Route 45) Mae McQuade’s beloved pre-Civil War
home just southwest of State College is filled with treasures, many
collected during years of living around the U.S. and Europe with her
late husband, an army officer. But cherished above all is the finely
detailed corner cabinet in the dining room that he made for her. It
holds her most precious pieces of china, from an astounding collection
on display here and there around the house. Years of entertaining military brass
prompted this gracious hostess to open one of central Pennsylvania’s
first B&Bs in 1985 – the same year she graduated Phi Beta Kappa
from Penn State after returning to college to finish her degree. The Chatelaine has two bedrooms on
the second floor with private baths, and two bedrooms on the third
sharing, although they are usually rented as a suite or for one couple.
“I started with a swan Christmas plate,” says Mae of the Swan Room,
which is the favorite. Now it is filled with swans, even to the fixtures
in the bathroom and the shape of the soap. It has a rare brass kingsize
bed. The queen bed in the Pink Belleek
Room has a white-glazed Victorian iron fence headboard flanked by
glass-topped dolphin bases. The room’s hall bathroom has lavender art
glass, lit from behind, in lieu of a window. We slept in the third-floor
Dawn-Facing Room, eclectic to say the least, with a king bed, TV and
what Mae calls “happenstance decor.” Some of the childhood clothes
and toys of her four children are on display. Black and white bathrobes,
to match the black and white wallpaper, are provided for the hall bath,
a mini-museum under the eaves. Across the landing is the twin-bedded
Wilderness Room, full of horn and twig pieces. Mae’s artistic daughter
Amanda sketched the mural on the stairway leading to the third floor, an
interpretation of childhood dreams. Another daughter, Delia, painted the
wonderful fantasy birds in the downstairs hall. Guests relax in the comfortable
living room, with its white sofas and many magazines, or at a table amid
Mae’s gardens on the wide front lawn. In the morning, juice and coffee
or tea is delivered early outside the bedrooms. We savored our candlelit
breakfast of cantaloupe with blackberries and incredibly rich meringue
french toast (made with croissants) with orange sauce, served on a
beautifully set table. Other dishes from Mae’s extensive repertoire
could be fresh fruit mélange with tamarind-ginger sauce, German plum
cake, huevos verdes, Swiss omelet roll, Florentine crêpe cups and
chocolate chip banana bread. The trunk of the venerable white pine
in front of the house is split, which accounts for part of the name. Mae
considers herself the chatelaine, or “keeper of the keys.” She turns
the keys gladly, pampering guests in her charming house.
For more information: www.chatelainebandb.com. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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