The 1770 House Restaurant & Inn

The 1770 House Restaurant & Inn

The building on Main Street predates the country itself, raised in 1770 by the colonist Matthias Burnett and held by eight generations of the Dayton family before it became an inn. Guests now check into one of seven rooms, Georgica, Lady Dayton, Lily Pond, Queen, Fithian, the Garden Room and the Carriage House, each with a fireplace, mini bar and private bathroom, rather than a corridor of identical doors. Downstairs, the Tavern keeps one of New York State's last working beehive ovens, the same room that serves the meatloaf Ina Garten made famous, while the candlelit Main Dining Room and a garden strung with lantern light give the property three distinct places to eat without leaving the grounds, all run by chef Michael Rozzi, in the kitchen since 2013, with a wine list that has picked up a Wine Spectator award every year since 2007. Guild Hall and the Home Sweet Home Museum sit a short walk away, and a note that Mary Dayton sealed into a wall in 1873 stayed hidden for 129 years, a detail that says more about the place than any brochure could. This suits travelers who want a working kitchen with rooms above it more than a hotel that happens to have a restaurant, and who don't mind choosing from only seven doors. Anyone set on a pool, a gym or complete anonymity should book elsewhere. Check-in runs from 2pm, check-out is 11am, and an extra bed costs 75 dollars a night. What stays with you isn't the antiques. It's a 250-year-old oven still doing its job every night. A seven-room inn built in 1770, still run as a working restaurant with three dining rooms and one of New York's last beehive ovens. Rooms carry family names and fireplaces; check-in is 2pm, check-out 11am. Good for those who want history with dinner, not hotel-scale amenities.