The Benjamin Wales House

For Thanksgiving I spent the week in Hallowell, Maine, a quaint little town along the Kennebec river and right outside of Augusta.   We stayed in the Benjamin Wales House, which is a beautiful historic home restored as a B&B.

The Benjamin Wales House, which was built in 1820,  has some of the most amazing details and charm that I have ever seen in a B&B: 11' tall ceilings, original wide planked hardwood floors, fireplaces in virtually every room, four huge bedrooms with private baths, a parlor for breakfast, a billiards and piano room, and even a small library.

And this doesn't even include the furniture and all of the handpicked intricate touches!  Almost everything was found at auctions, and there has been no small detail left out.   I hope the pictures will speak for themselves.

The second day we were here we woke up to 10" of snow outside and we couldn't even open the door to get out of the B&B!  It created such a beautiful winter wonderland!!!!

This first post will focus on just the downstairs........ 

The Benjamin Wales House during the snowstorm of 11-23-11

 When you first walk into the house you are greeted by a grand spiral staircase.

I will talk more about these stairs, and the ingenious artwork going up the walls, in my next post.  Promise :)

On either side of the hallway with the spiral stairs there are two twin foyers; one designated as the breakfast room with little breakfast tables along the wall, and the other as the billiards/ piano room.   Here is the breakfast foyer. 

Every morning was an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, a hot-off-the-oven homemade muffin unlike any muffin you've had before (fresh blueberry, fresh raspberry, fresh banana walnut), and crispy bacon and eggs, pancakes, or french toast.  It was amazing.

 The breakfast foyer has the CUTEST collection of salt and pepper shakers!!!!!  Here are just a few:

The room also has a gorgeous chandelier that is kept on at night for those who come home late, and vintage paintings that would have fit oh-so-perfectly in my suitcase.

Across from the breakfast foyer was the billiards and piano room.  The walls are a gorgeous red which was difficult to get a consistent picture of.

Often you would hear classical music coming from this room and meandering through the heat vents of the house into all the other rooms. 

Beyond the twin foyers and under the spiral staircase is a small reading room/library, with rich purple walls, gold tin ceilings, built in book cases filled with books, and a gorgeous chess set.

 We were the first of the group to arrive and had the B&B all to ourselves.  Once the rest of the group arrived and we literally took over all the rooms of the B&B, the owner opened up a dining room so we could all eat together.

My next post will focus on the upstairs of the B&B: the four guest bedrooms/suites!!!  They are so gorgeous!!!!