OUR STORY
A guest once said we were living their dream life.
Here's what that actually looks like.
Craig and Kathy Della Penna are longtime cyclists who've toured rail trails and stayed in plenty of B&Bs along the way. Craig is a nationally known rail-trail advocate, the author of five books, and has given more than 1,200 talks across 21 states and Canadian provinces. He's also an associate broker with The Murphys Realtors, just around the corner.
Kathy recently retired from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She walks the trail morning and night, tends the gardens, and chose every color in the house.
Meet Thelma & Louise
Thelma is our tan Scottish Terrier; Louise is our polydactyl tortie cat. They rule the roost, but never go in the guest rooms.
BEST B&B IN
FLORENCE
HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD
CITY OF NORTHAMPTON
AS SEEN ON
HGTV
The House on the Trail
In 2001, Craig was at a public meeting in New Hampshire proposing a new rail trail, and neighbors kept asking why they should trust someone who didn't live next to one. So we went looking for a house on a trail and found 62 Chestnut Street: an 1865 farmhouse, badly run down and overgrown, eight feet from the path.
Look for the giant thread spools in our doorway. There's a story there, and we'll tell it if you remind us.
1865
Farmhouse built in the mill village of Florence
2001
We buy the house and start a 14-month restoration
2003
Open as a B&B; featured on HGTV's Restore America
TODAY
Powered by a 33-panel solar array and two battery walls
As seen on HGTV
The restoration earned Northampton's Historic Preservation Award and a segment on HGTV's Restore America. Watch the before-and-after.
