August 2011 at Maplewood
Submitted: August 22, 2011
Stayed: August 2011
Maplewood is an extraordinary home - well designed, well built, well furnished and well equipped, A covered front porch leads to a large entry hall with a stand full of umbrellas and walking sticks, a reverse bowfront chest, a powder room and stairs to the second floor bedrooms. The hall leads to a light, open great room, with three sets of double French doors leading to a rear terrace and a screened porch with comfortable sitting and dining areas. The living and dining areas look like a page out of County Life - large comfortable sofas and chairs, beautiful rugs, Staffordshire lamps, dark oak tables, lovely paintings, a large stone fireplace, floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with interesting books and tables stacked with magazines and books on local history and architecture. The living room cabinets house a large television with DVD player and a stereo system which is connected to speakers throughout the house.
Adjacent to the living room is a formal dining room with an oak dining table, handsome old Windsor chairs and an antique sideboard, a breakfast room and a large kitchen that literally has everything - a Vikling stove plus separate convection, microwave and toaster ovens, a Subzero refrigerator, an Asko dishwasher, two sets of China - Wedgewood and pottery, cabinets full of bowls and serving pieces, a bar area with dozens of glasses and stems, and a knifebox full of sharp Wusthof knives. The bedrooms are spacious, with windowseats and large closets and baths, and are beautifully furnished.
The house is on a quite cul-de-sac in a very nice neighborhood, a short, easy drive to the Mountain Fresh Grocery and restaurants on the east end of town. The front and rear yards are totally private, with clipped hemlock hedges and beds full of creamy hydrangea, gold and black rudbeckia and a variety of ferns and hostas, surrounding stonework and natural stone outcroppings. There is parking for two cars on the main level plus a two-car garage on the lower level.
The owner is gracious, helpful and accomodating, the neighbors are friendly and the house was spotless when we arrived. Maplewood is a beautiful house in a beautiful setting. Our friends were amazed that so nice a home was available for rent. Highlands is the quintessential mountain resort town, with a walkable downtown and great restaurants and shopping, and the temperatures in August were twenty degrees cooler than home. The only bad thing about Maplewood was that we eventually had to leave.
Helpful votes: 2/3
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
No
