Old Inn on the Green

Romance is in the air every February when Valentine’s Day rolls around, but the Old Inn on the Green manages to create a romantic ambiance every day of the year in its fabulously atmospheric hostelry.

The Inn, which first welcomed guests as a coaching inn, was built in 1760 along the old wagon road between Hartford and Albany. With a tavern, a post office and rooms upstairs that travelers might well have had to share with a stranger, it offered rough comfort from the real rigors of Colonial-era travel. Today’s visitors will find an entirely different ambiance in the inn operated by owner and Executive Chef Peter Platt and his wife, Meredith Kennard.

Today, it—along with the adjacent Thayer house, built in 1820 and containing additional guest rooms—remains the centerpiece of the scenic village green, a classic New England structure that has been painstakingly restored by its owners to reflect the elegance of the 18th century down. The entire restaurant is lit only by candles, whose light glints softly off burnished pewter and lightly illuminate murals of local scenes painted in a primitive style.

The cuisine is renowned throughout the region. A la carte dinners are available every day or, as an alternative, a three-course prix fixe dinner with choices for $46. The tradition of offering a prix fixe menu on Saturday evenings—a four-course menu with eight or nine choices for appetizers and entrees and four or five choices for dessert at $75—is a long-standing one. Vegetarians and those with special dietary restrictions are always happily accommodated.

The Old Inn on the Green is at 134 Hartsville-New Marlborough Road, New Marlborough MA and is open daily except for Tuesdays year-round and closes Monday as well during the winter, with the exception of holidays. Call 413-229-7924 or click on the link below.